Entrapped
by el1022
Summary: Hinata, Haku, Naruto, & Sasuke are best friends who are trained to protect the world from paranormal threats. When an ancient evil returns & targets Hinata, the team sets out to find out why she's a target & how to fight and protect her all while also dealing with the drama that comes with being a teen. Modern/supernatural AU. Rated M for gore & adult situations. Slow burn.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this story has no beta. There will probably be spelling & grammatical errors. Sorry.**

 **This is set in an AU where Naruto is not a hyperactive idiot and has been adopted by Sasuke's family after his parents were killed when he was a baby. I've written him to be a calmer, smarter person because I think that if he grew up around the Uchihas, their stoicism and his hyperactivity would have balanced out… maybe. The final couple has NOT BEEN DECIDED, but there will be the following links for sure: NaruHina, NaruSaku, SasuHina, HakuHina.**

 **Naruto and Sasuke are 18, Haku is 17 while Hinata is 15 turning 16 soon.**

 **Anyways, characters will probably be OOC. Hopefully it's still an enjoyable story.**

 **Read and review, please.**

* * *

Chapter 1

Hinata silently made her way down the long, dark, hallway of the abandoned psychiatric hospital. All of the doors were open and every time she passed one of the white rooms, she could feel a chill run down her spine as she unintentionally imagined what the previous occupants of the rooms had been like. She took a deep breath as she walked through an open metal door at the end of the hallway, the temperature significantly lower than it had been just a few steps earlier.

"Naruto, Sasuke," she spoke quietly, her voice barely audible, "there are 4 of them here in the east wing surgical room," she was crouched against the wall beside the doorway.

" _I'm on my way_ ," she heard Sasuke reply through her earpiece.

" _Don't do anything until we get there_ ," Naruto ordered and she rolled her eyes. " _Did you just roll your eyes?_ "

She knew that there was no possible way he could've seen her but was caught off guard by the question and stuttered a bit as she replied, "N-no."

"I can hear you."

Hinata froze and her breath caught in her throat as a voice hissed directly beside her ear. Her eyes were wide as she slowly turned to stare at the gaunt and rotting face of one of the spirits she had spotted in the room. The stench of his breath and decomposing flesh hit her hard and it took all the self-control she had to not gag. There were loose flaps of skin that hung and revealed the muscles and bones underneath his face and torso. She quickly grabbed a long knife and slashed at him when he reached out his hand to grab her. He snarled in pain when the blade sliced the palm of his hand and Hinata took that moment to retreat to stand on the opposite side of the hallway so that she could see inside the room clearly.

The perverted spirit recovered quickly and stood up to his full height. "You're so pretty," his smile pulled his cracked and bleeding lips tight over his teeth and his eyes were crazed as he looked at Hinata's face. "Do you know what I do to pretty girls?"

Hinata gasped when, as if on cue, the other three ghosts in the room turned around to face her. She had known they were nurses, but she hadn't been able to see their faces until now. Their faces and bodies had been mutilated so that they barely seemed human anymore. One of the nurses had her lips and cheeks cut off in the shape of a permanent smile so that it showed all of her teeth and gums. Her hands were amputated and replaced with blades while another nurse had an eye gouged out and the empty socket stitched shut, her eyelid sunken in, while her tongue hung down where her jaw should have been. Her right leg had been broken the fingertips of her left hand were replaced with scalpels while she held another scalpel in her right hand. The third one's eyelids had been removed so that her eyeballs were almost completely exposed. The skin and cartilage from her nose to her chin had been removed, and her hands had been replaced with a serrated blade and hook.

"Don't they look even more beautiful now?" a dry cackle racked his body before the nurses lunged at Hinata.

Hinata snapped back to reality and barely moved out of the way in time. She dropped to her knees and spun around on them, letting the left blade of the first nurse cut through the empty air above her head while Hinata cut deep into the nurse's ankles so that the spirit dropped to the ground and howled and squirmed in pain. Hinata didn't waste any time before she plunged her knife into the nurse's chest. She didn't even have time to watch the first nurse burst into brilliant lights before she blocked the serrated blade of the third nurse with her knife. She jumped backwards, hitting the wall behind, just as the nurse swung her hooked hand at Hinata's face. Hinata barely had enough time to register and duck under a scalpel thrown by the second nurse that came flying at her face after the hook missed her.

"Hinata, duck!"

Hinata did as she was told and dropped down just as Sasuke fired his gun at the third nurse. They squinted as his bullet found its mark in her head and she exploded into shimmering lights.

"I thought I told you to wait," Naruto scowled at her as he fired his gun at the second nurse, being as good a shot as his adopted brother.

"I was going to, but that one heard me and attacked," she replied, her eyes locked on the spirit of the insane doctor who had done horrible things to anyone who had come into the asylum decades ago.

"I just want to improve you," he laughed again.

"No, thank you," Hinata threw her knife expertly and it took less than a second for the blade to bury itself in his chest. "What?" Hinata wasn't the only one who was shocked when the doctor, who was clearly in pain, pulled the knife out but didn't disappear like the others.

"That should have cleansed him," Sasuke's grip on his gun tightened.

The doctor threw the knife at Hinata and she caught it easily, plucking it out of the air as her mind raced. "We need to burn whatever it is his spirit is bound to,"

"What did that article say about him?" Sasuke asked as he shot at the doctor; his bullets as ineffective as Hinata's knife.

"It must be the jewelry box that he used to seduce the nurses and patients into being alone with him," Naruto replied, his shots merely delaying the ghost.

"I think I saw it in his office," Sasuke spoke.

"Let's go!" Hinata shouted.

They turned and ran towards the office at the center of the hospital knowing that the spirit was likely to follow them. Hinata and Naruto threw salt over their shoulders to slow the spirit down and were satisfied whenever they heard the spirit hiss in pain. They didn't even realize that they hadn't heard the hissing for a while before the spirit came from another hallway.

Hinata screamed in pain when the surgical saw he held sliced into the backside of her right shoulder. She quickly got out of the way, smearing blood on the wall.

"You go deal with the box!" Naruto ordered Sasuke as he stood protectively in front of Hinata.

"I just want the girl."

"You can't have her," Naruto growled and pulled out his own knife. "Are you alright?" he said over his shoulder to her.

"Yeah," she switched the knife from her right hand to her left as blood blossomed around the wound through her shirt and ran down her right arm.

The spirit charged at Naruto, swinging the saw and attacking wildly while Naruto blocked every attack, protecting Hinata and defending himself with his knife and gun. It didn't take much longer before the spirit paused to clutch at his chest before smoke seemed to seep from his body.

"What did you do to me?!" it shouted, attacking Naruto with crazed thrashing.

Naruto calmly defended against the spirit's attack until he saw an opening and plunged his knife into the doctor's chest, "My brother destroyed your jewelry box."

The doctor roared just as he exploded into a shower of brilliant lights.

"Let's go," Naruto gently grabbed Hinata's left wrist and led her outside where Sasuke was already waiting at their car for them with their first aid kit out.

"The one time we actually need a Healer and Haku isn't here," Sasuke clenched his teeth.

Hinata winced in pain as Naruto helped her get her shirt off. She shivered from the cold night breeze as she stood in a camisole while Sasuke took a quick look at her injury.

"We need to get her to Haku or a hospital. She's lost a lot of blood and it's still bleeding," Naruto exchanged a worried glance with Sasuke when he saw the extent of her injury.

"I'll drive. You do what you can and call Haku. Tell him to meet us at home."

Hinata clenched her fists in pain as Naruto sanitized her wound and tried to stop the bleeding. Sasuke drove quickly and they arrived at Naruto's and Sasuke's home quickly, but she'd lost a lot of blood even though Naruto had finally got it to stop, the moment she stepped out of the car, she collapsed into a pair of strong arms.

* * *

When Hinata opened her eyes, it took a moment to adjust to the bright lights shining through the open window. She looked to her right where Haku was sleeping in a chair with his fingers intertwined with hers. To her left was Sasuke sleeping in the bed with her while Naruto slept in a chair at the foot of the bed. She looked around, recognizing the room as Naruto's, and sat up, freeing her hand from Haku's grasp.

"Hey," Sasuke woke up first and grinned up at her as he rubbed the sleep from his onyx eyes.

"Why are you all sleeping here?" she looked at the others again.

Sasuke shrugged and stretched, before he woke the others with hard smacks to the head.

"You're awake," Haku smiled in relief. His long brown hair was slightly disheveled.

"Haku ditched his date to come and treat you," Naruto smiled thankfully at his best friend.

"Sorry, I'll be more careful next time," Hinata apologized.

"I didn't even like her. I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'll never let you go on a mission without me again," Haku blushed when she grasped his hand in gratitude, but he looked at her with steady brown eyes.

"Did you let my uncle know I was here?" Hinata looked from one friend to another.

"I told him when I went to pick up your things," Naruto held up a bag.

"Thanks," she got up and took the bag, looking inside. "You went through my underwear?" she looked up at him with wide eyes, her face bright red.

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly while Haku just stared at Naruto in exasperation.

"I'm going to take a shower," she walked into the bathroom that connected Naruto's and Sasuke's bedrooms and showered quickly, changing into the clothes that Naruto had brought for her; a set of matching baby blue underwear, a pair of faded, distressed, skinny jeans, and a long, loose, black racer-back tank top that she knotted at her hip to give it some form. She came out of the bathroom with her long, straight, blue-black hair still damp.

"My girlfriends take much longer than you to get ready," Sasuke had finished showering in a separate bathroom as well.

"Well, I don't care about my looks as much as your girlfriends do," she shrugged.

"How does your shoulder feel?" Haku asked as he inspected her bare shoulder.

"It feels as good as it looks. Thanks," she replied with a smile. Haku had done an excellent job and there was absolutely no evidence of the previous night's injuries.

"That's good," he grinned back.

"I'm going to shower now. Mum's made breakfast so go eat," Naruto commanded as he pulled his T-shirt off over his head. Hinata hoped that nobody noticed her blush as she quickly exited the room.

She had liked Naruto for close to 5 years, since she was 10, and did her best to hide it from all three of her friends. She had always liked him quietly and the thought of telling him how she felt had never crossed her mind. She could never see her own worth and in her mind Naruto was too good for her.

* * *

"Why are you always around the Uchihas?"

"Yeah, along with Haku?"

Hinata was used to being questioned about her friends regardless of the fact that school had already been in session for almost four months. Every year there were girls who would question her friendship with her trio of heart throbs and she had gotten used to answering whatever questions they might ask.

"I've known them for a long time," she replied honestly, not telling them that she had trained as a paranormal hunter alongside adoptive brothers Naruto and Sasuke, and their best friend Haku since she had been 5 years old.

She had known ever since the guys were in junior high that Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku were very popular with the girls. These days, no matter where she went, there would be a group of girls gushing about the dreamy brothers who were almost complete opposites of their quiet best friend who, while being androgynous, was still part of their fantasies. She had intended on keeping some distance from them when she became a freshman in high school so that she could try to make friends, but they had made that impossible for her by sticking to her like glue whenever there was a break between classes.

She had always thought that it was strange that Naruto and Haku had both never had girlfriends despite the fact that girls were always gushing over them and giving them notes and homemade cookies and the like.

"Hinata, let's go eat lunch," Haku smiled at her warmly as he grabbed her wrist and led the way outside to their usual spot under a large tree.

"So, you're Hinata?" Sasuke's current girlfriend, a pretty blonde girl who dressed a bit too revealing for a high school student, studied Hinata carefully.

"Yes," Hinata nodded and smiled politely back.

"You told me I didn't have to be jealous," the girl frowned as she spoke quietly to Sasuke, though Hinata, Naruto, and Haku could still hear her clearly.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied, clearly not even concerned that his girlfriend might be feeling a bit insecure.

"She's beautiful," the girl glanced at Hinata again.

"You don't have to feel threatened. I've always known that no girl could be more beautiful than Hinata and I don't expect my girlfriend to be prettier than her. That's impossible," Sasuke shrugged.

"She's like our baby sister," Naruto reassured the girl as well and Hinata felt her heart drop a little though she already knew that Naruto had only ever seen her as a child.

"I'm not the only one who's jealous of her. I mean, at least I'm dating Sasuke, but you guys are single and you seem to spend all your free time hanging out with Hinata. Every other girl is probably scheming against her."

Hinata looked at Haku who had abandoned his date the night before because she had been injured and began to wonder if the reason he had never had a girlfriend was because he was always around to take care of her. She knew he was handsome enough to have his pick of any girl.

He had an unassuming build, being 5 feet 10 inches with a lean, athletic build. He had long, silky brown hair that he usually wore down, unless they were out on a mission, and such deep, warm brown eyes that lit up when he smiled. His lips were slightly pouty and he had a rather feminine jawline. His face was youthful and boyish while at the same time beautiful. Many people who met him for the first time were unsure if he was actually a guy, until he spoke in his mellow, masculine voice. The way he dressed was effortlessly stylish. But it was his heart that made him the dream boy. He was transparent. He never said anything he didn't mean, and he was loyal. He was the type of guy who would be willing to try anything before quitting, but also the type of guy who knew when quitting was the best thing to do. He had a type of devotion that was rare and anyone who had his devotion was lucky. Presently, it was Hinata who owned his heart and his devotion and she didn't even know it.

Brothers Naruto and Sasuke were also both dreamy, but in completely opposite ways. Naruto had short blonde hair with an effortlessly tousled look, almost as if he had just rolled out of bed with great hair. He had piercing blue eyes and full lips with an admirable jawline that was undeniably manly. He was taller than Haku, standing at 6ft 2inches and had a bulkier build, chiseled to perfection. Unlike both Haku and Sasuke, Naruto had tanned skin which defined his muscles more.

Sasuke was the most popular of the three. He had pale skin, black hair that covered about half his face, and dark grey eyes. His hair was rather long for a guy, but nowhere near as long as Haku's. He was 6 feet tall with a lean build, but defined muscles. He was on the prettier side of masculine, but seemed to hit the sort of balance that women found most attractive. He wasn't too bulky or too lean, not too pretty or too handsome, not too tall but definitely not short either. His most defining feature, was probably his uncaring, bored expression.

Personality wise, Sasuke had a sort of "bad boy" type of aloofness and sarcasm that made him not watch his words. He didn't care if his words might be hurtful and never regretted saying anything to anyone. Unless it was Hinata. When it came to Hinata, he cared. There was something about her that made him more careful.

Naruto, unlike his brother, was kind to everyone. His words were comforting and seemed to put people at ease. He was the classic prince. He was the type of guy who opened doors for girls, the type of guy who went out of his way to help an elderly man or woman cross the street. Naruto had a gentleness and a chivalry that girls desperately wanted. But they wanted the rebel more. Naruto, with his slim fit, preppy style, was the type of guy that girls knew they should marry, but it was the wilder, leather jacket wearing, rebellious brother that girls wanted to date.

"Are you sure she's not competition?" the girl scowled, unhappy that Sasuke thought that Hinata was more beautiful than she was.

"Of course she's not," Sasuke sighed. "I'm not good enough to date her." Hinata rolled her eyes while Sasuke smirked as he stole a glance at Hinata.

Though she was currently only 15 years old, Hinata had a sort of timeless beauty and it was obvious that she was only going to get more beautiful. Her pale skin seemed to have a kiss of silver and her cheeks had a splash of pink so although she never wore makeup she always looked radiant. She had long full lashes that curled naturally and framed her large, sultry, but immensely kind pale lavender eyes. Her eyebrows were on the straighter side, with not much of an arch, but added a youthfulness that kept the rest of her features from aging her. Her nose could only be described as regal; straight and perfectly fitted to her small, heart-shaped face. Her naturally pink lips were full and luscious and were the constant source of temptation for many men and some women. Her blue-black hair was long and silky straight and when she left her hair down, it framed her face perfectly, while when she put her hair up, it just showed off her rather symmetrical features. She was not very tall, but her body proportions were what any woman dreamed of. She had the type of body that could wear anything or nothing and look amazing. She had just enough curve that she looked attractive and not too skinny. But unlike her friends, she wasn't constantly pursued by the opposite sex.

Hinata gave off an aura of seemingly impossible perfection that made it difficult for other people to want to be around her. People didn't want to be compared to the beautiful girl who had the top marks in the advanced placement classes, could keep up with the most athletic boys in all the sports, and managed to be kind and down to earth. Her only flaws, if they really could be called flaws, were that she would stutter occasionally and the fact that she was dreadfully shy and timid. Her stutter had at one time been a huge issue for her, but she had overcome it for the most part. It was easy for people who didn't know her to hate her because they didn't really want to get to know someone who seemed to enhance their own flaws. Hinata thought that people didn't like her because there was something wrong with her.

For Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku, they had grown up with her and she was the one thing that they all knew they had to protect. They knew that they were lucky to know her and be a part of her life. They wanted her to remain the way she was now for as long as possible and hoped that there would never be a day that broke her innocence and selflessness.

"Hinata's way out of my league. She's way out of anyone's league. If I'm, what did you call me, a god? Well then, Hinata's what gods wish they could be. The fact that you could even think that you could be her competition makes me upset. Aren't you being a little too full of yourself?" he looked at her with a cool gaze.

She let out a huff as she stood up and stormed away.

"That was mean," Hinata frowned.

Sasuke sighed, "I was being nice."

"Why can't you treat them like you treat me?"

"Because, they're not you. And besides, the only reason why they want to date me is because they want to be known as the girl who finally tamed Sasuke," he scoffed.

"How do you know that?"

"I know because I'm not deaf and I hear the talk as well."

"Still, you shouldn't intentionally hurt them like that."

"I reassured her that she didn't have to be worried about me falling for you because I know you're too good for me. What's wrong with that?"

Hinata sighed in defeat knowing that nothing she said could convince him that he was wrong.

"So, Hinata, do you want to go to the wint-," Haku started to ask.

"Hinata," the group turned their attention to look at one of Sasuke's classmates and quarterback of the football team who had just cut off Haku. "I was just wondering if you would go to the winter formal with me," he was clearly nervous and his face was crimson as he looked down at Hinata.

"Beat it. She's not going with you," Sasuke stood up and walked up to him.

"Sasuke, stop being so mean," Hinata stood up and pulled Sasuke away. "Kiba, right?"

"Yeah," his face brightened, happy to know that she knew his name.

"I'm really flattered that you want to take me to the dance, but I'm already going with someone else. Sorry," she apologized.

"Of course, you're going with someone else," he was clearly disappointed, but not crushed. "I should've known that someone would have already asked you. Maybe next time," he smiled sheepishly and returned to his group of friends.

"Who are you going with?" Naruto asked wondering who could have asked her to the dance without their knowledge and who she liked enough to agree to go to her first high school dance with.

"I'm going with Haku," Hinata replied matter-of-factly, as if they should have already known.

"Really?" Haku asked as his face broke out into a bright smile at the idea that she wanted to go to the dance with him and had even turned down someone else to go with him.

"Why are you so surprised?" Hinata frowned. "Weren't you going to ask me to go right before Kiba showed up? If not, you don't have to go with me," she shrugged.

"Well, you— I— we— I mean— what?" Haku struggled to find his words and they laughed.

"Well, I'm not taking anyone either so Haku and I can both escort you," Naruto stood up and dusted off his black slim fit jeans. Though Haku was not really subtle with how he looked at or talked to Hinata, he had liked her for so long that none of them remembered a time when he didn't look at her the way he did. They had all gotten so used to it that, even if he wasn't like this to other girls, they figured that he was like Sasuke and treated Hinata differently because she was special, and not because he had any sort of special feelings towards her. If Naruto or Sasuke had known that Haku was actually in love with Hinata and had been since they first met ten years ago when he was 7, they might have tried to give Haku more time with her.

"Why are you excluding me?" Sasuke frowned at his brother.

"I'm not sure if you'll be single by then."

"Whatever," Sasuke scowled.

"What do people usually wear to these things?" Hinata held her hand out to Haku and helped him to his feet as well.

"Dresses and high heels and makeup," Sasuke grinned trying to imagine their rather tomboyish friend dressed up.

"Hey, I wear heels," she smacked his arm pointing down to the impressive 4-inch, electric blue stilettos she wore at the moment.

"Yeah, and you're still tiny," Naruto tousled her hair affectionately.

"No, you guys are just freakishly tall," she replied with a small pout as she ran her fingers through her silky hair before securing her hair into a high, messy ponytail.

"What are you, like 5 feet?" Sasuke teased as well as he looked down his nose at her to spite her more.

"No," she rolled her eyes. "I'm five two," she muttered quietly.

"Like Naruto said, tiny," Haku laughed as well.

After teasing her the entire time, they walked her to her next class, Naruto tousled her hair again while Sasuke gave her a grin that girls would fight for and Haku gently brushed her cheek with his thumb.

"See you after school," he said before he headed to his next class.

"Hinata, you're so lucky." She was instantly surrounded by the girls in her class.

"It's not what you think," she replied, not meeting anyone's eyes as she sat down in her seat. She knew that they were just being nice to her because they all had crushes on her friends. They only ever talked to her when it had something to do with one of the guys.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this story has no beta. There will probably be spelling & grammatical errors.

…

Chapter 2

"You look beautiful," Hinata's uncle smiled when she came down the stairs dressed for the winter formal.

She was wearing a champagne colored, strapless, empire waist, tutu dress with a sweetheart neckline that flaunted her décolletage and delicate bone structure. The bust of the dress had a lace overlay that added a touch of maturity to the dress. The layers of fabric that made up the skirt gave her a fairy-like weightlessness while her already long, toned legs seemed to go on forever even before she put on her fancy peep-toed pumps. Her hair was secured into a low side bun by her right ear with a few random braids leading into it while her long blunt bangs rested over her forehead as usual. She had used a rose-gold eye shadow that was subtle but shimmered beautifully when the light hit it before she lined her eyes with black eyeliner, smudging it so that it looked smoky and contrasted with her pale, flawless skin and her pale eyes and made them even more alluring while mascara enhanced her lashes to dramatic lengths and volume. The natural flush in her cheeks seemed more noticeable since she had used a pale coral lip gloss to diffuse the color of her full, naturally pink lips.

"I knew that you wouldn't be wearing any jewelry, so I bought you these," her uncle gave her a small box.

She opened the box only to reveal a pair of beautiful pearl earrings and gold cuff-style bracelet embellished with pearls.

"Uncle," she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly before she put the new jewelry on.

"I got you pearls because I always thought pearls were more elegant than diamonds."

"They're perfect," she smiled up at him.

"You better get your shoes on," he told her when a pair of headlights flashed through the window as a car pulled into the driveway.

She slipped on a pair of nude, 4 and a half inch, floral, lace, and rhinestone peep toe pumps that helped bring together her entire look.

"Wow," Haku stared at her.

"Is this the same girl that trained in weapons and combat with us every day for the past decade?" Naruto was thoroughly impressed. He had always agreed with his brother that she was beautiful, but he had never seen her try to look her best like this.

Sasuke was so shocked he had no words.

"That's right. My niece, who can kick some serious ass, is this beautiful as well. You boys need to make sure she's well protected from pervs."

"Yes, sir," they snapped out of it.

"Just so we're clear, Hinata said she's going to the dance with me. I'm officially her date," Haku held out his arm and Hinata linked her arm with his, letting out her chiming laughter thinking that he was cracking a joke.

"You look amazing," Sasuke smiled at her.

"Thank you. You, sir, look like a proper gentleman too. You all look so amazing in your fancy tuxedos. I wasn't sure if I'd overdressed, but I guess this is okay."

She turned around and waved goodbye to her uncle as she walked to Naruto's and Sasuke's car. She sat in the back with Haku.

"Don't accept drinks from anyone who isn't us," Naruto said.

"And don't go anywhere alone with a guy," Sasuke added as he drove.

"Before you guys continue with whatever else you have to say about this, I'm not stupid and I'm not a child."

"You're 15. You are still a child," Naruto smiled at her thinking that it was entirely too adorable that she thought she as mature and worldly as they were.

"You don't have to treat her like she's a kid. She's not any 15-year-old. She's Hinata Hyuuga and she's smarter than all the girls Sasuke's ever dated. Combined," Haku defended her.

"Thank you, Haku," she grinned at him, using his name in a way that made the butterflies in his stomach flutter.

Naruto sighed knowing that what Haku said was completely true as well, but whenever he looked at her, even when she looked like this, he could still see the little girl who had come running to him in tears every time she was hurt or scared.

By the time they arrived, most of the student body had already filled the gym and the party was almost in full swing. Though normally the girls wouldn't have been able to keep their eyes off of Naruto, Sasuke, or Haku, all eyes were on Hinata. The boys who hadn't already noticed how pretty and attractive Hinata was noticed now, and the girls were suddenly acutely aware of their own shortcomings, feeling the gap between Hinata and the rest of them getting impossibly larger.

"Want to dance?" Haku asked.

"Yes," Hinata's face broke into a radiant smile and she followed him to the dance floor followed by Naruto and Sasuke.

Though they were teenagers, they had not actually had the luxury of enjoying their youth. When they weren't at school, they were training, and when they weren't doing either of those things, they were out on missions to cleanse and exorcise spirits or track and hunt demons. They had been forced to give up the usual joys that accompanied being young when they were too young to really make their own decisions and now it was too late for them to go back.

After a few fast-paced songs, the DJ played a slower song and Hinata was about to head to an empty table to sit down, but Haku grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms where he led them in a slow dance. Naruto and Sasuke were instantly ambushed by girls and were slow dancing with fans of theirs.

"Haku, I'm really sorry you had to leave your date to come treat me," Hinata apologized again.

"Hinata, that was like 3 weeks ago."

"I've been feeling guilty about it. If things had gone well for you, it could've been her here with you tonight."

"I already told you," Haku sighed, "I didn't like her much."

"But she was the first girl you'd ever agreed to go out with."

"I thought that she could distract me from someone else, but I was wrong and it was wrong of me to do that. I was using her and it made me feel like a horrible person."

"Someone else?"

"A girl who has no idea how I feel about her."

"Why don't you tell her how you feel?"

"Because I'm a coward."

"She'd be lucky to have you."

"I'd be lucky to have her," he said so quietly that she couldn't hear his words over the music.

"I need to use the bathroom," she said, pulling away from him and heading to the ladies' room in the corner of the gymnasium.

She checked her appearance in the mirror after she had finished her business and washed her hands when she saw the reflection of her uncle in the mirror. She spun around to face him, but when she could see the bathroom stalls through him, she realized that what she was seeing was his spirit.

"Uncle," she choked out the word knowing that this meant that he was dead.

"Hina Hime, I don't have much time left in this world, but I needed to give you this message. In my room, in the frame with the photo of us together on my bedside table, is a key to a safety deposit box. You need to get the contents of that box and get out of town. It's not safe for you here anymore. I'm sorry," he began to fade.

"Who did this to you?" she stepped forward, her hand passing through his.

"I love you," he said before he disappeared.

She ran out of the bathroom, straight through the gym, and out the front of the school without another word. She sprinted as fast as she could the 18 blocks to her home. From the outside it looked undisturbed, but the moment she walked in, she knew how desperately her uncle, who had helped train her and the others in combat alongside Naruto's and Sasuke's father, fought. She knew that this was the work of something strong. It was freezing inside and her breath came out in white wisps and she could see remnants of spiritual activity fading.

She saw her uncle's body lying on the kitchen floor without a single mark on him, as if he had just dropped dead. Her hands were shaking and she dropped to her knees and she let out a choked sob that was barely louder than a whimper but clearly expressed her devastation at losing the only parent she had ever known. She crawled to where he was, her tears streaming down her face as she looked into his empty eyes and vacant expression. She screamed as she clung to his body, resting her head on the chest that no longer rose and fell with breath.

"Hinata!"

She didn't move or reply when she heard Sasuke's voice call to her from the entrance.

"Hinata!" Haku ran into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks when he saw her.

Naruto came behind her silently and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her away from her uncle and into his embrace and she sobbed into his chest.

"His spirit came to me when I was in the bathroom at school," she spoke softly after she had gained control of herself again, forcing her pain deep down.

"What did he say?" Naruto asked in his deep, gravelly voice that never failed to calm her.

"He told me that it wasn't safe for me here anymore. He told me to get out of town," she looked into Naruto's eyes, her expression full of confusion, desperation, and heartbreak.

"He didn't tell you what did this?" Haku knelt down beside her.

"No, but he told me to retrieve the contents of a safety deposit box."

"First things first," Naruto helped her to her feet. "Pack your PJs and a change of clothes. You'll stay with us tonight and we'll figure things out together with our mum and dad."

"Haku, you call 911 and Naruto, you call Father," Sasuke commanded while he hid the weapons that Hinata's uncle had used to defend himself.

Haku and Naruto did as they were told as they went up to Hinata's room to help her pack. It didn't take long for the police to arrive. After a series of questions for all of them, they allowed Hinata to leave with her friends. Haku noticed her eyes welling with tears again after the coroner had informed her that her uncle had died of natural causes and that there were no signs that he had been murdered despite the mess inside the house. They said it looked like he had knocked everything over in when he lost control of his body as he fell about the house trying to get to a phone. Haku pulled her into his chest so that she could cry while he led her to the car.

….

"He said to get out of town?" Fugaku handed Hinata a hot cup of tea.

She nodded her head, the heat from the mug in her hands helping to warm her up.

"I think it's time we told them, love," Mikoto placed her hand on her husband's shoulder gently.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke looked from his mom to his dad, not really understanding the silent conversation they were having with their eyes.

"As you all know, Hinata was sent to live with her uncle when she was 5. Hinata, you can't remember anything before you started to live with your uncle, can you?" Fugaku began.

"No, but that's normal, isn't it?"

"Yes and no. It's true that since you started to live with your uncle at such a young age, you would have difficulty remembering your life before that, but your father didn't want to risk it so he, along with a group of other Hunters that specialize in spells and enchantments, locked all of your memories of your family with a sealing spell to keep you safe. I know you've always thought that they must have abandoned you, but they saved your life. Kizashi isn't even your blood uncle. He was your mother's best friend."

"What?" Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"It doesn't change that he loved you as if you were his own daughter," Mikoto added.

"I don't understand. What were they trying to protect her from?" Haku asked.

"We only know of the legend of him that has been passed down. We don't know how much of it has been lost, exaggerated, or to what extent it is true. Almost 600 years ago, there was a Hunter who was talented beyond belief. He was the type of Hunter that we all strive to be. He had mastered every aspect of being Hunter and was equally good at healing as he was at fighting and cryptology and such. After a successful mission, he returned to his home where the entire village had been slaughtered by an invading army. There was nobody left alive; not a single man, woman, or child. He saw how brutally the men had been killed and tortured, the women raped, and the children executed and, in that moment, he came to the realization that worse than any spirit or demon that he had spent his life hunting were the very humans he had been protecting. He decided that they needed to be erased from the earth. He allied himself with the strongest spirits he could find and appointed himself the Lord of Spirits and spent the rest of his life mastering forbidden techniques and creating new ones, until another group of Hunters finally defeated him. Many good people were lost in that battle."

"So, if they were successful, what does he have to do with what's happening now?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Because by the time they had finally managed to bind him, he had mastered the forbidden technique Complete Reincarnation," Fugaku said in a weary and grave voice.

"What does that even mean?" Naruto asked what they were all wondering.

"After he dies, he is reborn with all of his previous memories and skills. He is more powerful every time he is reborn and the Elite Hunters are tasked with the duty of protecting the world from him. Every time he returns, he has a different appearance and it's not easy to identify him, even if we know when he last died, until he reveals himself. That's not even the worst of it. He has a devout following of strong former Hunters who have become jaded by how humanity has twisted and ruined the world. He is very charismatic and it is easy for even the most noble of us to be seduced by him." Fugaku Uchiha paused and let out a long sigh before he looked back at Hinata who sat silently waiting for him to explain what this story had to do with her. "Hinata, he's your cousin."

She stared at him completely shocked with this new information.

"He was born into the world as your father's brother's son. He did an excellent job of hiding who he was and they didn't start to notice things until after you were born."

"They especially didn't want you to remember him because they were afraid that you would start to look for him not knowing who he really was, thinking that he was your family. They didn't want to risk you falling for his charms and becoming as twisted as his other followers. They didn't want to risk him searching for you so they faked your death and gave you to Kizashi, the only person they could trust with you. We met Kizashi here when your parents requested that we help train you so that you would become the best Hunter you could be," Mikoto explained.

"I don't understand why they had to go so far as to fake her death," Sasuke frowned.

"We're not too sure either, but we know that they wouldn't have done that if they didn't think it was completely necessary. All we know is that your brother was so furious that he slaughtered your parents and baby sister in a fit of rage. Your parents weren't weak either. They were Elites and he was only 8, but they couldn't even touch him. We don't know what he wants with you or how he found out you were alive, but there is no other reason for him to do this. His ideal world is world of only Hunters so he wouldn't kill one of us for no reason."

"So, are you trying to tell me that my cousin is responsible for killing Uncle Kizashi?"

"It's the only possible explanation as to why Kizashi was targeted in his own home. Why else would Kizashi tell you that you needed to get out of town?" Fugaku looked like he had just aged 10 years in the span of time he had explained everything.

"If everything you said is true, and my cousin killed my uncle for his connection to me, then my presence here has put everyone in danger," Hinata stood up slowly looking around at the only people she cared about. "I need to leave," she turned around about to run out of the house.

Sasuke caught her by her arm, "No, you don't."

"I don't want any of you to be hurt because of me," she tried to free her arm from his grip, but he just grabbed her other arm with his free hand.

"I'm not letting you go!" he shouted, causing her to stop struggling against him. "I'm not letting you go," he repeated in a gentler tone though he glared fiercely into her eyes.

"Then we need to put some protective spells on this house," she gave up.

"Right," Fugaku nodded his head.

"I'll surround the house with salt," Mikoto Uchiha quickly went to work to protect the house from spirits that might try to attack.

"I'll put up a perception filter," Naruto began to draw a large symbol on the floor so that even though people could see the large, luxurious house, they wouldn't notice it. It would be like something that their eyes would just skim over and not dwell on.

"I'll make sure we have weapons and ways to communicate in every room in case there is an attack," Sasuke ran off to the secret room that housed their weapons and began to disperse them around the house.

"I'll have to let my parents know I won't be home," Haku pulled out his cell phone.

"No, you should go home to protect them. They're not like us and they can be vulnerable. There are probably traces of Hinata at your house too," Fugaku told Haku.

"He's right. Your parents are just regular civilians. You should make sure they're safe tonight," Hinata nodded her head.

Haku wanted to argue, but he knew that they were right. His foster parents, who knew nothing about spirits or anything paranormal, wouldn't stand a chance without him. "I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning," he pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her forehead before ran at full speed home.

"I'm going to put barrier enchantments on all of the entrances," Hinata said.

She went to the front door first and began to draw an invisible symbol in the air with her hands facing the door so that the door would only open to those who wished no harm on the inhabitants of the house. When she had finished drawing the symbol, it appeared in front of her in glowing blue and she pushed it so that it seemed to fuse with the door before it became invisible. Once she was finished with that enchantment, she quickly drew another symbol which would fortify the door so that it would be unbreakable. She went around the house and marked anything that could be used as an entrance the same way, all doors and windows, before she found Fugaku casting enchantments on bullets so that they would be effective on ghosts and demons.

"What's his name?" she asked.

"In this lifetime, he's called Neji Hyuuga."

"What's his real name?"

"Nobody knows what he was originally called."

"If the Elite Hunters are supposed to deal with him, why haven't they done anything? My parents obviously knew who he was by the time I was 5. Why is he still free?"

"Because he disappeared after he killed your family. He just vanished and they've been searching for him ever since. I think you've heard and been through enough for one night. You should wash up and go to bed."

"Thank you for everything. Good night," she said before she left him.

She slowly made her way up the stairs where she ran into Sasuke. "You'll sleep in my room tonight," he took her by her wrist and pulled her into his room.

"But," she began to protest since she was more used to using Itachi's old bedroom.

"If for whatever reason something manages to get through all of our defenses, it'll be better if I'm with you since I'm the best fighter," he cut her off, an edge to his voice.

"Okay," she nodded her head. "I'm going to wash up and change," she picked up her bag and headed to the bathroom.

"I know it really doesn't matter now, but I thought you were the most beautiful girl tonight. I was disappointed that I didn't get a chance to slow dance with you," he told her in a voice so full of regret that it surprised him as much as it surprised her.

"I wanted to dance with you and Naruto too," she said before she shut the door behind her.

She took a moment and looked at her reflection before she stripped out of her dress and pulled on a pair of shorts and a camisole. It took her a few minutes to get her hair undone before she pulled up all of her hair into a messy top knot so that she could wash her face and brush her teeth.

"Sorry," she flushed crimson when she walked back into Sasuke's room where he stood wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants, exposing his sculpted abs and muscular chest. She didn't blush because she had feelings for him like she did for Naruto, but because she was still just an innocent and sheltered girl when it came to the opposite sex.

He was barely fazed as he pulled a T-shirt over his head. He pinched her nose as he walked past her to wash up as well. She went to his closet and found a hanger she could use for her dress.

"You're going to sleep here? Will you be okay?"

Hinata turned around to face Naruto who had walked in so silently she was startled. He was still wearing his tuxedo, but he had pulled off his tie and unbuttoned the collar of his shirt.

"Sasuke thinks it would be safer for me in here in case we need to fight," she shrugged, suddenly aware that she was showing a lot of skin. She wrapped her arms around herself, unable to look at Naruto without feeling self-conscious.

"Are you cold?" he frowned, not waiting for her to answer before he reached behind her.

She stayed still as his eucalyptus and minty smell drifted into her nose. He was only inches away as he grabbed one of Sasuke's zip-up hoodies from behind here. He gently placed it over her shoulders and smiled warmly at her.

"You're so tiny it could be a dress on you," he patted her head lovingly.

She looked up at him, and hated that the sadness she felt that her uncle had died had been eclipsed, if only for a moment, by the sadness she felt that Naruto treated her like a child. She felt so loathsome that her eyes filled with tears again and though she tried to keep them from falling, her tears silently escaped and ran down her cheeks.

" _I'm despicable,_ " she thought.

Naruto didn't say anything and was about to pull her into a hug, but she turned away from him quickly, "I'm fine. I just want to be alone." she walked away from him.

"If you want to talk, you know where I am." He wasn't used to her putting up walls when it came to him. It wasn't the first time he had seen her cry, but it was the first time she had not let him comfort her. "Good night," he said softly before he left her alone.

She turned in time to see the door shut behind him before she sank to the floor and continued to cry, hating herself as her tears dropped like falling stars, landing on the floor in front of her. She knew that Sasuke would come out of the bathroom at any moment and quickly wiped her tears on the sleeves of his sweater after putting it on properly and zipping it up. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She allowed herself to cry for ten more seconds before she stopped and got up to her feet. She wiped her eyes once more completely composed just as Sasuke came out.

"Sorry, I borrowed one of your sweaters. I hope that's okay."

"Yeah," he studied her face and she hoped that he wouldn't be able to tell that she had cried again, but he did. She noticed his eyes look down at the sleeves which were damp with her tears. She knew that he wasn't stupid and that he knew, but she was thankful when he pretended that he didn't. Naruto would have asked her if she was okay and she would have started to cry again, but Sasuke just asked, "What side of the bed do you want?" He didn't like to see her cry, but he wasn't like Naruto and the only way he could comfort her was to pretend like he had fallen for her act.

"I can sleep on the floor."

"I'm not going to make you sleep on the floor and I sure as hell am not sleeping on the floor either. We've slept in the same bed before."

"Then I'll sleep on the window side," she knew that what he was saying was true. Even 3 weeks ago, when she was in Naruto's room, he had slept on the bed beside her and she had felt fine. Why was she suddenly uncomfortable now? She had always thought of Sasuke as an older brother while she had seen Naruto as someone she wished would fall in love with her. There had always been that difference in the way she saw them both, but when she saw Sasuke without his shirt and blushed, she had realized that he wasn't her brother. He was a 17-year-old boy who was the object of affection for many girls her age.

"Okay," he turned off the lights and got into the right side of the bed.

She got into the left side and looked out the window at the dark, velvety sky. The moon was hidden behind clouds and she could only see a few stars, but the faint twinkling lights managed to give her some peace. She sighed and closed her eyes, not realizing how exhausted she was until that moment when sleep overcame her.

… 

Hinata woke up at dawn out of habit. She could already tell that her eyes were swollen from crying the night before and quickly went to the bathroom to wash her face and use a towel soaked in icy cold water to bring down the swelling. When she returned to the room, she noticed a gift on the bedside table along with a card that had her name written on it. She picked up the box and card and sat down on the bed not recognizing the writing.

"Sasuke," she gently shook him awake.

"Hmm?" he turned his face towards her, but didn't open his eyes.

"He was here."

His eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly.

"What?"

"He got through all of our defenses and left this for me," she looked at the gift.

"What does the card say?"

"Happy 16th birthday, dear cousin. I thought about killing this family, especially that stupid boy you were sharing a bed with, but I thought that waking up in a house full of corpses would have ruined your special day. I knew that your parents lied to me when they said you died and I've searched and waited many years to see you again but you'll have to wait a little while longer for me. There are things I need to do and people I need to kill to get that pesky memory binding spell lifted off you. I need to get every last one to either reverse the spell or die for you to start remembering anything. It's a bit of a chore, but it will be worth it in the long run.

"I know that our fellow Hunters will probably tell you about me. What they tell you is probably true, but believe me when I tell you that I don't want to hurt you. I'm happy to see that you've grown into a formidable Hunter. You have a lot of potential, though you are probably already one of the strongest at your age.

"I hope you like the gifts I got you. I put a lot of thought into it. You deserve only the best, so I got you the best. Enjoy.

"All my love, Neji."

Sasuke grabbed the gift box. It had been wrapped with care in a vintage teal and ivory box with a brown ribbon tied into a pretty bow at the top. He untied the bow, opened the lid, and pulled out a small album and another matching box. Inside the second box were an elegant diamond ring, and matching earrings.

"What the hell?" Sasuke looked at all the jewelry. "What is he trying to tell us?" he muttered.

"Oh God," Hinata had opened the antique silver album and found herself staring at a series of photos of her from the past few days. There were pictures of her at home, at school, at Haku's house, at the Uchihas' home, sleeping, getting dressed, training, and hanging out with her friends.

She could feel Sasuke staring at her and she wondered if he could see how terrified she was. She didn't even move when Naruto came in and Sasuke showed Naruto everything Neji had left for her. The fear had made her numb to everything and when Naruto pulled her into another hug to comfort her, her heart didn't flutter like it usually did.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this story has no beta. There will probably be spelling & grammatical errors.

A few things you should know: I mentioned in chapter 1 that Hinata is "dreadfully shy" but when she's around her friends, she's comfortable enough to be herself. As soon as there are more strangers than friends around her, she is very shy. I call this the 50% rule because I'm like this in a way as well. I can be perfectly comfortable and normal when I know and am comfortable with at least 50% of the people, but any other time, I am almost completely silent.

In terms of where this takes place, it is not taking place in any real locations. All locations are (obviously) made up.

Just a warning, this and the next couple chapters will be a little bit slow, but they're necessary for both plot and character development. Hopefully you can push through until things begin to move along.

Please review.

…

Chapter 3

"So, what was in the safety deposit box?" Haku asked when Hinata came out of the bank.

"It's a journal," she held up an old leather journal so old that pages were falling out.

"Whose journal is it?" Naruto asked as he opened the car door for her.

"I don't know. It's too old to be my uncle's, or my parents'. It has 3 enchanted locks on it so I can't even open the book until I find the keys. The locks look like they were added later. They're too new to have been an original part of the journal."

"That's all that was in there?" Sasuke made a face.

"There's this as well," she held up a brochure for the Yeoksa Museum with a woman's name scribbled in her uncle's handwriting along with an old photo of a Kizashi and a rather tough-looking woman.

"Well, if we're leaving town anyways, we might as well go to Nigiyaka City and find Mebuki Fuji." Sasuke said as he took a closer look at the brochure.

"You guys don't have to come with me. I can manage on my own."

"We're not leaving you alone," Haku shook his head.

"Our parents are leaving today to meet Itachi and see the Elders in Tendoshi and there is no way in hell we are leaving you to deal with this without us. We're a team," Naruto said, a fierceness in his voice that seemed so much more like Sasuke.

"Okay," she said quietly.

"We should get all of our affairs in order and take today to prepare for whatever lies before us. We don't know how long we're going to be gone. We don't want people to think that we've just gone missing or anything like that," Haku said thoughtfully.

"Right," Naruto agreed. "Let's split up and meet back at our place by 7. Sasuke, you stay with Hinata."

Sasuke nodded his head and took Hinata's hand in his as the group split up.

…

Hinata and Sasuke returned to Hinata's home so that she could pack her things. While she packed her clothes, he hung around in the room that Kizashi and Hinata had transformed into an arts and crafts studio. Hinata was amazingly artistic and whenever she needed to escape reality, music, drawing, and dancing had always been her release and though she wanted to take her art supplies with her, she knew that it would just be excessive and unnecessary so she stayed away from that room.

Sasuke had always loved her art. She could sketch something in a couple minutes and it would be so honest and emotionally raw that it was impossible for people to look at it and not feel something.

At the moment, Sasuke stood looking at a charcoal drawing of Naruto. There was a softness and a warmth to the way she drew Naruto. Her drawings of Sasuke were subtly different in approach but not very many people could see the difference, but Sasuke could. When she drew him, all of her lines seemed to have more effort behind them, as if she had to concentrate to draw him whereas Naruto seemed to just come naturally. He could sense a vulnerability and shyness when he looked at pictures of Naruto, but when he looked at ones she did of him, he could sense familiarity and for the first time ever, as he looked at her drawing of Naruto, he felt a pang of jealousy.

She only packed a small portion of her clothes and shoes but made sure she took all of her hunting supplies and equipment that had been hidden in a secret room and a photo of her with her uncle. She made sure she packed food, a blanket, toiletries, and anything else they might need to survive on their own out on the road.

"Is there anyone you want to say goodbye to?" Sasuke asked as he put the last of her bags into Kizashi's SUV a few hours later after helping Hinata pack and clean up the house. They had placed sheets over all the furniture since they weren't sure when they'd return or if Hinata would ever want to live back in that house ever again.

"Who would I say bye to? You, Naruto, and Haku are my only friends. Do you have anyone you want to say bye to?"

"Are you referring to my numerous ex-girlfriends?" Sasuke scoffed.

"Maybe," she smirked.

"Please," he chuckled, "you know me better than that."

She rolled her eyes and punched his arm. "Sasuke, what's your ideal girl like?"

"My ideal girl?"

"You've dated a lot of girls so you must know what type of girl you're looking for."

"I'm not really sure. I'm just looking for the girl that I would move heaven and earth for; someone who I don't think I could live without, someone I couldn't let go of. I mean, yeah, I'd love it if she was sexy and smart, funny, and driven, but I don't really think that I can decide who I'll fall in love with," he shrugged.

"Why did you date all those girls?"

"I was bored."

"That's horrible," she shook her head and rolled her eyes. "What about Naruto? What type of girl is he usually attracted to?" she asked.

"I don't really know. He's never been interested enough in a girl to ask her out, and he's not like me. He doesn't like the idea of dating for the sake of dating. You know him. He'd never act on those types of feelings unless he was sure that she was worth it."

"And Haku?"

"Why are you so interested in our ideal type of girls all of a sudden?"

She shrugged. "I'm just curious."

"Haku's ideal type of girl is you."

She was doubtful and looked up at Sasuke with a raised brow and disbelieving grin.

"I'm not saying that he likes you like that, because I'm not sure if he does. What I do know is that he has stated in the past that, and I quote, 'it's crazy how perfect Hinata is. Sometimes I just want to marry her.'" He laughed when he saw how serious her expression had become, "I wouldn't think about it too deeply."

"Right," she pushed the thought from her mind and got into the passenger seat of the SUV.

They turned on the radio and she began to sing along with the music, her sweet voice filling the car.

"If you hadn't been born a Hunter, what do you think you would've wanted to do with your life? I mean, we'll have to get jobs and careers eventually, but our choices are limited what with our duty to protect people from unknown dangers."

"I don't know," Hinata thought about the question for a few moments. "Like you, I've always known that I was born with a Hunter's Mark so I've never really thought about what I really wanted to do. What about you?"

"I think that I would've liked to study music and compose or something," his answer didn't really surprise her though it would have surprised every last one of his former girlfriends. Most people didn't know it, but Sasuke had a talent for music. He had a wonderfully earthy voice, perfect pitch, and a skill for playing different instruments. "I would've written songs for you to sing," he grinned at her.

"Haku would've still gone into medicine I think, maybe acupuncture, and Naruto would have gone into computer programming or something like that. He's so good at all things technical like that."

She began to sing again and Sasuke joined in as their worries faded for the length of the car ride. By the time they arrived at the Uchihas' house it was slightly after 7.

"We're back," Sasuke called as they went inside.

"Something smells really good," Hinata said as she walked into the kitchen.

"Happy birthday, Hina Hime," Naruto smiled at her brightly, using her childhood nickname.

She gasped at the beautifully decorated kitchen where Naruto stood wearing an apron. She saw the dinner that he had prepared for her and she felt like she was justified in liking him so much when he did things like this for her. How could she not fall for him when he was so thoughtful and warm?

"Did you do all this by yourself?" she asked.

"Haku helped me too. I thought that we should all take tonight to celebrate your birthday and forget what lies ahead of us because tomorrow, we can't be immature children anymore."

"You're the best," Hinata wrapped her arms around his middle and smiled when he kissed the top of her head. "Thank you, Naruto. Thanks, Haku," she gave Haku a warm smile.

"Anything for you," he smiled back; a bit disappointed that she was still in Naruto's embrace.

"Let's eat before the food gets cold," Naruto led Hinata to the table and pulled out a chair for her.

"It better not be ramen," Sasuke said suspiciously.

"No, I actually put in effort for Hinata," Naruto smiled proudly.

"Mum and Dad have already left?"

"Yeah."

After they had finished eating and cleaning, the three boys presented Hinata with their gifts for her.

"Here," Sasuke handed her a long and narrow box.

"Thanks," she opened it and grinned. It was such a Sasuke gift. The blade of the kindjal knife was intricately designed and looked beautifully feminine and dangerous at the same time. The scabbard was on the plainer side, but still beautiful while the hilt of the kindjal was adorned with jewels.

"I made sure that dad had it enchanted by the Elders the last time he was back in Tendoshi."

"It's beautiful," she hugged him.

"This one's from me."

She took the box from Naruto and opened it, finding a DSLR camera kit. "This is," she gasped.

"I know how much you love taking pictures of obscure things and fleeting moments with your phone, but I thought that this might work for you better."

She was speechless and he laughed at her reaction.

"Mine isn't as extravagant as these guys', but I hope you like it," Haku said and gave her a gift bag. Inside was a custom-made photo album with a photo of the first day the four of them had been together made into the cover.

She smiled. Sasuke was standing on the left with his head held high in pride while Naruto stood beside him with a curious expression on his face as he looked at Hinata who looked confused and on the brink of tears, holding his hand while Haku stood on the right leaning down so that his lips were pressed against Hinata's cheek and his arms were around her shoulders.

"This is amazing," she leaned over and gave him a gentle peck on the cheek causing him to blush.

"Why are you blushing like that?" Sasuke smirked.

"It's not every day that a beautiful girl gives me a kiss," he replied without missing a beat.

"Hinata's not a girl. She's one of the guys," Naruto laughed completely unaware of how his words stung Hinata.

She hid it well.

"We should load the car and get some rest. We have a long drive ahead of us," Naruto stood up.

They loaded everyone's luggage into the SUV after pulling out the back seats so that there would be more room for equipment. After they finished loading everything, they went around the house and put up defenses again. They knew that if Neji wanted to, he could still get through, but they thought that it would be better than nothing.

…

After driving for what seemed like forever, they arrived in Nigiyaka City. Knowing that they had to stay as off the grid as possible, they found a foreclosed gym that was still in good condition and put up protective spells and enchantments lining the entire inside of the factory with salt to prevent any people or spirits from entering or even noticing that there was a building there. And if for the slightest chance that someone or something did notice the building, they would have an extremely difficult time trying to get through. They unloaded all of their equipment and luggage and decided that the boxing ring would be where they would practice combat and also sleep. The office would be used for investigating, and their weapons were hung and laid out alongside the weights and workout equipment. They emptied a cabinet and placed their herbs, holy water, and other miscellaneous items in it.

"You guys must be exhausted from driving. Take a break and Haku and I can do some recon," Hinata said to Naruto and Sasuke.

"No, we're fine. I'm going to call mum and let her know where we are. While I do that, you guys try find Mebuki Fuji's whereabouts," Naruto replied, heading off to update Fugaku and Mikoto.

Hinata, Haku, and Sasuke pulled out their phones, trying to find every Mebuki Fuji that lived in Nigiyaka ending up with a list of 5.

"We could cover more ground and save time if we split up, but since we only have one car and we could run into trouble, I think we should stay together," Haku said just as Naruto returned from his phone call.

"I agree," Hinata nodded her head.

"Guys, I found her," Sasuke said.

Everyone turned their attention to Sasuke when he held his phone up. On the screen was a newspaper article reporting the sudden death of the curator of the Yeoksa Museum. The photo in the article was undoubtedly the Mebuki Fuji they were looking for.

"The article says she just mysteriously died in her sleep, but according to her friends and family, she was perfectly healthy. The autopsy report showed nothing that could explain her sudden death, so it's become a sort of mystery that law enforcement just decided not to pursue, which is why it's in this news site that likes to write about mutants and aliens and shit like that," Sasuke said.

"When was this?" Naruto asked.

"The article was published 8 days ago," Sasuke answered.

"That's pretty suspicious," Haku frowned.

"By any chance, is her home address in the article?" Naruto knew it was a long shot, but decided there was no harm in asking.

"Not address, but it does mention that it's close to 'prestigious Misul Academy' so if we use that as our starting point, Hinata should be able to sense lingering spiritual activity if Mebuki Fuji was in fact murdered by something not quite human."

"Great, let's suit up and get going then," Naruto nodded.

They quickly grabbed prepared like they usually did for a mission before they drove towards the academy. When they were about five minutes away, Hinata closed her eyes and blocked out all distractions, focusing on finding spiritual residue like the one she felt at her home the night Kizashi died.

"Left. Straight. Left," she began to lead them into a neighbourhood, taking them further from the school, but closer to where she could feel a saturation of a recent attack.

"We're at a dead end," Naruto said, turning to look at Hinata.

"I guess we're going on foot now," Sasuke got out of the car after Naruto parked in the cul-de-sac.

"Guys, I think I found the house, but I can sense something else heading there now too. We need to hurry," Hinata said, leading the way as they jumped over fences and through yards, alleys, and walkways.

By the time they arrived, they could hear a struggle going on inside the house.

They didn't bother waiting before Sasuke kicked the front door in and they all raced inside.

The first thing Hinata noticed was a boy her age getting thrown across the living room by a demon. The boy got back up to his feet as soon as his back hit a wall. He had two short blades protruding from a sleek contraption on his wrists and though he was fighting against a demon, his face didn't show fear, but determination.

This was in stark contrast to a girl whose legs had obviously failed her as she sat on the floor only a few feet away from the demon. Her entire body was shaking and her eyes were open wide, full of tears, as she stared at the monstrosity that slithered towards her.

The demon, whose lower body was like a snake, had the torso and arms of a man who looked like he spent his entire life lifting weights. Its head was a strange mix between a goat and a man, but the way it snarled was like a wolf. It swung its sword at the girl who was paralyzed with fear and would have landed a fatal blow if Sasuke hadn't grabbed her at the last second, moving her far from the demon's reach.

He grimaced with pain as he felt the sting that accompanied the deep slash he received in his arm as the sword sliced through his upper arm like butter.

"You protect the girl, we'll kill the demon," Naruto shouted to Sasuke.

Haku threw a pair of long, thin needles at the demon's eyes, blinding it so that it wouldn't be able to see where they were attacking from. Naruto pulled out a morning star from his bag, pushing a button on the ball end to activate the spikes and blades so that they protruded from it. He let began to spin the weapon over his head, letting it fly towards the demon's face once it reached top speed.

He wasn't the only one was surprised when the demon dodged the attack. Naruto tried again just to make sure it wasn't a coincidence and bit back a curse when the demon dodged again. He barely had any time to react when the demon whipped its tail at Naruto, knocking him into a grandfather clock that had been ticking beside the girl.

It was clear that this demon had immensely acute hearing and that they needed to either be completely silent, or so loud that it couldn't distinguish where anyone was.

Hinata looked at the boy who had been fighting the demon earlier and saw that he had realized this as well. Their eyes met for a just a moment before the boy looked past her at something behind the demon. She followed his gaze and saw a large home theater system with surround sound. She looked back at him and nodded her head.

Right as she was about to stealthily make her way towards the remote control which was sitting on the sofa right beside the demon, the girl whimpered and the demon shot its tail out again. Hinata managed to drop to the ground while Haku flipped over the tail, but the sound of them landing on the floor was enough for the demon to figure out where they were.

It could obviously still hear the girl's whimpers as well because it attacked Haku with one clawed hand, Hinata with another, and swept its tail towards the girl, Sasuke, and Naruto. Both Haku and Hinata managed to maneuver just out of the demon's reach while Sasuke sliced through the demon's tail with his katana.

It howled in pain, but made its way towards Sasuke while Naruto picked up the girl and tried to get her to safety again. Naruto winced in pain when a clawed hand scratched his face as he spun around to protect the girl. She was now sobbing and the demon could easily hear where she was. Sasuke, in an attempt to distract it, was attacking with his sword, unable to get a critical hit due to the demon's ability to defend against him and attack the girl and Naruto at the same time.

Hinata scrambled to her feet and dove to get the remote control while Haku decided that he needed to sever the demon's tail. The other boy managed to get between the girl and Naruto, blocking the demon's swing with the sharp edge of his blade so that it cut into the demon's flesh.

Hinata turned on the TV and cranked up the sound so that it was loud enough to cause everyone discomfort. The demon screeched and Haku took that moment to act. He pulled a garrote out of his pack and wrapped it around the demon's neck, yanking so that the wire sliced the demon's head off.

Hinata immediately turned off the TV and they watched as the demon seemed to implode on itself until no trace of it was left.

"Good job, guys," Naruto winced and wiped some of the blood dripping down his face.

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke looked at the boy.

"My name's Itsuki and that's my sister Sakura. We live here."

"Was your mother Mebuki Fuji?" Hinata asked.

"How do you know our mom?" Itsuki looked at her with surprised eyes while Sakura didn't respond to her mother's name, clearly in a catatonic state.

"It isn't safe to talk here. We should get back to our base," Haku suggested.

"Yeah, we don't know if something else will come," Sasuke nodded.

Naruto carried the unresponsive Sakura all the way back to the car, getting into the back with her while Sasuke got into the driver's seat to drive back.

"You're a Hunter," Haku stated as he looked at Itsuki.

"Yeah, but my sister isn't. I had to hide everything from her so that's why she's so shocked," Itsuki glanced at his sister who was still trembling.

"That must have been difficult," Hinata said as she looked at both Itsuki and Haku, knowing that Haku had also hid much of what he actually did from his parents.

Itsuki just nodded his head before turning his attention to Sakura, trying to calm her down.

They rode the rest of the way in silence.

…

"I always thought that he went to regular tutors after school. I didn't realize that he was actually being taught demon hunting," Sakura finally spoke when they arrived back at the gym and came inside. "You all look so normal."

"You're in shock. Are you hurt anywhere?" Naruto asked gently.

"No."

"Why don't you take a few moments to process everything," Naruto led her to a sofa, his arms around her shoulders and his face red with a blush. She was tall and slim with short pink hair split on the side and a pretty hairband that added a sort of princess-like touch to her image. She had pale skin and her lips were on the thinner side, but it didn't matter because it was her beautiful green eyes that drew focus. She dressed in a wine red, knee-length dress with a white cardigan cinched at the waist with a thin, dark grey belt, finishing off her look with a pair of grey flats. Everything about her appearance screamed sincere and lady-like so the blue diamond tattoo on the center of her forehead seemed out of place.

"Let's take care of your injuries," Haku said, speaking to Naruto, Sasuke, and Itsuki.

They followed Haku and Hinata to the room they had set up to be used as their infirmary, leaving Sakura to calm down more and collect her thoughts. Haku began with Itsuki, who had some scrapes on his face and arms. Hinata left Sasuke, who was the most injured with the deep cut down his arm, for Haku to deal with and instead began to treat Naruto's wound. She first cleaned the wound so that she could see what the actual injury was like. There were four wounds going from his right cheek to his ear and jaw that she healed with a basic healing enchantment.

By the time Hinata had finished with Naruto, Haku was already finished completely healing Itsuki and Sasuke. Sasuke knew that since Haku was the best Healer, it just made sense for Haku to be the one to look after him because of the level of injury he had, but he couldn't help feeling disappointed that Hinata had chosen Naruto.

"I'll go check on Sakura," Hinata said before she went to the sofa.

"She's hot," Itsuki said in a low voice as he watched Hinata's hip sway slightly.

"She's off limits," Haku said while Sasuke glared at Itsuki.

Naruto was too busy staring at Sakura and both Haku and Sasuke had thought it was odd that Naruto had not joined them in warning Itsuki not to flirt or make any moves on Hinata.

"Hi," Hinata awkwardly greeted Sakura. "C-can I get you anything?"

"Can you please just tell me who you people are?" Sakura looked up at Hinata with her doe eyes.

Hinata sat down and took a deep breath, not sure how to explain what they were without sounding crazy. "We're just a group of teenagers who happen to know and help protect the world from supernatural dangers. I know that it's a lot to process since, unlike the rest of us, you haven't been told and taught about the existence of spirits," she fought through her shyness and explained slowly.

"How can there be such things as demons and ghosts?"

"There just are. It's something that you just have to accept now."

"You're all crazy," Sakura shook her head.

"Or, you just witnessed us save you from something you can't explain," Hinata replied steadily and saw acceptance and fear dawn in Sakura's large eyes. "What happened to Mebuki Fuji?" Hinata asked.

"My mother? She died about two weeks ago and they said it was from natural causes, but Itsuki kept saying it was something else. I didn't want to believe him. She had scribbled a note as she died and I always thought it was meant for us to find and forgive our dad who walked out of our lives when we were kids, but Itsuki said that she wanted us to warn him. I didn't want to believe him and I didn't want Itsuki to leave me so I didn't let him see it either, but after what happened today, I think he was right." Sakura pulled something out of her pocket and clutched it in her tight fist.

"Can I see it?" Hinata asked slowly. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her not to look at it, but there was something else, a sort of tugging in her heart, saying that she needed to.

…


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this story has no beta. There will probably be spelling & grammatical errors.

Author's Note: Itsuki means tree. Also, to be clear, in the last chapter Itsuki thought Hinata was hot, but it was more of an honest observation and his feelings for her are strictly platonic.

Reviews are greatly appreciated.

…

Chapter 4

Sakura handed her a crumpled post-it note and Hinata slowly smoothed out the creases just as Naruto, Sasuke, Haku, and Itsuki joined them.

Hinata gasped and tears filled her eyes. "Kizashi Haruno." Her voice shook as she read out her uncle's name. She stood up slowly and processed the information on the post-it; the address of the house she had lived at with her uncle up until the age of 12. "Kizashi Haruno is your father?"

"We were born because of him, but he's no father. He left us when I was 7 and Itsuki was 6," Sakura spat hatefully.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku all exchanged shocked glances before their eyes landed on Hinata.

"Sakura, I told you, he probably left because he had to protect someone or something really important. My mentor told me that our dad was one of the best Protectors ever. Anyways, I'm telling you that the reason mom left that is not to tell us to go live with him now, but to warn him that something is coming for whatever he's protecting."

"It's too late," Hinata's voice was barely louder than a whisper.

"What?" Itsuki frowned

"Kizashi Haruno is dead," Hinata balled her hands into fists as a tear escaped her eyes.

"What?" Sakura looked up at Hinata in utter shock. It was obvious that she resented her father for leaving, but she didn't hate him as much as she tried to show she did.

"He was killed two days ago. He was one of our mentors," Haku said slowly, still processing the newly developed information.

"I told you!" Itsuki snapped at Sakura. "You were being so selfish. Because of your stupid pride I'll never see dad again. You were at least old enough to remember him. I barely remember playing catch with him!"

"I'm sorry, Itsuki."

"Leave her alone," Sasuke growled, not because he was protecting Sakura, but because he could see guilt weighing down on Hinata with every word Itsuki yelled.

"You can't blame her for not knowing what that message meant. She was ignorant of our world until today," Naruto reminded Itsuki.

Itsuki's glare wavered and he dropped his head in defeat and a bit of shame for snapping at his sister like that. "What about the thing he was protecting? Is it safe?" Itsuki asked in a low voice, knowing that Naruto was absolutely right, but still upset at his sister.

"Yeah, she's safe," Haku replied, his eyes resting on Hinata.

"She?"

"I'm so sorry," Hinata's voice shook. "He left you to take care of me. I grew up thinking that he was my uncle and I–I only found out after he died that he wasn't. I'm s-sor-sorry," she said again not knowing what else she could say.

"He left his own family to take care of someone else's daughter?" tears began to escape Sakura's wide eyes. "Were we not good enough for him?"

"Sakura, it's not like that. As Hunters, we are expected to put duty first and ourselves second. It's not easy being a Hunter. We sacrifice a lot. Do you think I wanted to leave you and mom every summer to train with other Hunters instead of going on those summer trips? We literally have the weight of the world on our shoulders and when we act selfishly, it can be catastrophic."

"How come your parents couldn't take care of you?" Sakura glared at Hinata, completely ignoring Itsuki.

"I don't know," Hinata replied honestly.

"That's enough," Sasuke warned, clenching his fist.

"Did they die? Were they not fit to raise you? Did they throw you away too?!"

"Sakura!" Itsuki was shocked by his sister.

Hinata knelt down in front of Sakura before she took a deep breath. Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku all wanted to pull Hinata back to her feet, but something about the pain in Hinata's face made it impossible for them to move.

"Sakura, I don't know why it was necessary for your father to raise me, but please don't hate him for it. I understand if you want to hate me, but Uncle Kizashi was much too good a person to be hated by someone who doesn't know the whole story. I know it's harsh of me to say these things, but I know him better than you do and he never did anything without a good reason. He would never leave anyone behind unless it was for their benefit. I don't remember my biological family. Apparently, my parents were slaughtered right after I was given to your father. Uncle Kizashi is the only family I've known and he's dead because of his relationship with me. I can only say that I am so sorry. I wish that he hadn't accepted the job of raising me because then maybe he'd still be alive right now."

"Sakura, it's not her fault."

"If you're going to hate and be angry at Hinata, then we deserve some of that hate too," Haku spoke as Naruto helped Hinata back to her feet, "because he was one of our mentors and he was a constant in our lives as well."

"Instead of resenting her, you guys should learn about what type of person your father was by hearing her stories of him," Naruto suggested.

Sakura looked at each of their faces, clearly seeing the pain of loss that was still fresh to them. She looked at Hinata last and could see the complete devastation that she felt clear as day in her eyes and in the quivering of her lips as she tried not to cry. "You're right. I'm sorry. He was more your father than he was mine, and he just died. I'm sure you're in enough pain without me adding to it," Sakura said in a defeated tone.

"Thank you," Hinata gave Sakura a sad smile, the corners of her lips still trembling slightly.

"We should probably introduce ourselves," Naruto said, realizing that they hadn't done so yet. "I'm Naruto, this is my brother Sasuke, and this is Haku and Hinata."

A long, awkward silence settled adding more tension to the atmosphere as Sakura looked from person to person. The silence became so thick that Hinata found herself holding her breath.

"I'm hungry. Do you guys have anything to eat?" Itsuki asked, changing the topic suddenly to try and dispel the lingering tension in the room.

Hinata let out a grateful breath and smiled.

"I can get some ramen ready," Naruto grinned and headed into the break room with Haku where there was a decent kitchen that was currently stocked with instant noodles, cans of soup, and cereal since that was all the food they had brought with them.

"I'm going to work out for a bit," Sasuke said as he went into the men's locker room where the guys had left their clothes.

"If you need anything, please let me know," Hinata said quietly to Sakura as she stood up.

Hinata showered in the women's locker room and when she came out, Itsuki was practicing weapons and combat with Sasuke while Sakura marveled at them. Naruto and Haku were still cooking.

"So, how did you guys become paranormal fighters?" Sakura asked in honest curiosity.

"We are called Hunters and we were born with the ability to see spirits. It's mostly a genetic thing so it's not common for someone with the Sight to be born into a family of civilians though the opposite happens more often. We start training to be Hunters at the age of 5, sometimes younger, so that we can start going out on missions by the time we're 14. There are many different primary fields we all train in like combat, healing, cryptology and so on, and then there are specialized fields that only those who show signs of certain talents train in, like advanced healing, advanced cryptology, blessing, and a few others. Even though we all have basic training in all the different primary fields, everyone is obviously better at some things and worse in others. Usually, by the time we're 10, it's more obvious which fields are our strengths and we begin to focus on specializing our skills."

"What's your specialty?"

"I don't really have a specialty."

"Hey, Hinata," Sasuke called, interrupting the conversation.

"Yeah?"

"I just bet Itsuki that he wouldn't be able to beat you in combat and he laughed. Do you feel like helping me win a bet?" Sasuke smirked.

"Why would you do that? How much did you bet?" Hinata asked.

"$20."

"If I win, I get half of that," Hinata sighed and tied up her hair. "Are we using weapons or just hand to hand?"

"Hand to hand," Itsuki grinned.

"Don't let her tiny appearance and age fool you. She's really good," Sasuke gave Itsuki one piece of advice before he exited the ring. "Hinata, I have faith in you."

Hinata entered the ring and stood in an oversized white short-sleeve shirt and a pair of black leggings. She had taken her shoes off and stood in just her socks. Itsuki was about a full head taller than she was and compared to his defined muscles, she did indeed look tiny.

He took a test swing at her that she ducked under. He tested her again and this time she dodged his swing, catching it in her hands before she spun his arm around so that it was pinned against his back.

"Okay, I'll take you seriously," he said right before he struck out at her with his free elbow.

She released his arm and took a step back to dodge his elbow, grinning as she did. He swung his arm and she leaned backwards so that the fist flew in front of her face before she stood up straight again, blocking a punch from his opposite arm. She dropped down and swept her foot under him causing him to fall to his back. He recovered quickly and flipped back onto his feet. They circled each other for a few moments, sizing each other up again.

"Hinata, stop being polite. Just end this," Sasuke called from a corner.

At that, Hinata ran at Itsuki, jumping up so that her knee would connect with his face, expecting him to either block or catch her. When he caught her, she grabbed his head and threw all her weight backwards so that he fell forwards. She pushed off him so that she landed on her feet and he landed on his face before she pinned him down.

"That's enough playing. Dinner's ready," Haku called.

"Are you embarrassed that I beat you that quickly?" Hinata asked when Itsuki pulled out his wallet and gave Sasuke $20.

"Just a bit," Itsuki sighed. "How old are you guys anyways? I might feel better if you're older than me."

"I'm 16, Haku's 17, and Sasuke and Naruto are 18."

"Wait, Sasuke and Naruto are twins?" Itsuki looked from Sasuke to Naruto in shock.

"Naruto's my adopted brother."

"Oh," Itsuki nodded his head in understanding. "So, what you're telling me is that a tiny girl the same age as me just kicked my ass," Itsuki frowned.

Hinata giggled.

"Well, I'm better with a weapon," Itsuki said.

"So is Hinata," Sasuke grinned.

"Damn," Itsuki was impressed.

…

"I've been wondering for a little while, but how did you find us? Why did you find us?" Sakura asked after they had finished eating dinner.

"When my uncle died," Hinata started in habit. "I mean, when your father died."

"It's okay," Itsuki reassured.

"We were at the school winter formal dance and his spirit came to me and told me to get the contents of a safety deposit box and get out of town. In the box, all I found was a book with 3 enchanted locks and a brochure of a museum with your mother's name on it along with a photo of them together tucked inside the brochure. The brochure was from here so we did some searching and managed to find where your mother was attacked. We were originally planning on gathering clues at the house."

"Can I see them? Can I see the book, the photo, and the brochure?" Sakura asked.

"Sure," Hinata stood up and returned with the items.

"This is where they first met," Sakura smiled. "My mom told me that she met the love of her life at the Yeoksa Museum which is why she stayed there as the curator even after receiving other job offers from more well-known museums."

"Just so you know, he had a tattoo of a tree with a single cherry blossom on it over his chest. I think it was so that he always had you guys with him," Hinata said gently, referring to what their names meant.

"I knew he never forgot about us," Itsuki smiled.

"That symbol on one of the locks," Sakura grabbed the book and looked closely at the lock in the middle.

"They look like crests," Itsuki frowned.

Sakura nodded before she continued her thought, "This looks like my high school crest," Sakura rummaged through bag and pulled out a student ID card, showing them her school crest. "What does this mean?" she asked.

"It means we need to search your school for clues or a key," Sasuke replied.

"We can't go in broad daylight. We'll have to sneak in after dark," Naruto muttered.

"Why would he hide the key there?" Haku thought out loud.

"Because it's haunted," Itsuki said.

"What?" Sakura's eyes were wide.

"I've only heard rumors, and I rarely go around it, I'm pretty sure it's haunted."

"Wait, don't you guys go to the same school?" Haku asked.

"No, Itsuki goes to the school with the best math and science program while I go to Misul Academy for its arts programs."

"Oh, I see," Haku nodded his head. "But you've never heard that your school was haunted before?"

"Like, I heard it was cursed, but I thought it was all nonsense so I never paid attention to it."

"Let's do some research before we blindly storm the place," Naruto pulled out his phone and set up a Wi-Fi hotspot so that everyone could simultaneously start searching on their laptop for whatever information they might find.

"Do you feel as useless as I do?" Sakura leaned over and asked her brother.

"Sorry," Naruto looked up and apologized. "The 4 of us have grown up together and it's not often we have other people around. We're just used to doing our thing. There's a sort of harmony in the way we work."

"So, what are you all doing?" Itsuki asked, leaning over to look at Naruto's computer screen.

"We're looking up any stories or legends about the school and also the history behind it," Naruto explained.

And with that everyone was silently researching again while Itsuki and Sakura observed them.

"Okay, it's been an hour. Let's see what information we've found," Naruto said.

"The school was originally an orphanage built in 1612 and was converted into a juvenile detention center 1821. I couldn't find any information about it when it was an orphanage, but here's what I found regarding its time as a detention center," Haku began. "The people in charge and some of the other staff members were pretty twisted individuals. When it was discovered that the kids and teens that were sent here were being sexually abused by some of the staff there, people turned a blind eye since it was keeping delinquents off the streets until one of the older kids had had enough and raped and killed a female staff member who was abusing his younger brother before he slaughtered 2 of the doctors. The police killed him and the detention center was shut down not long after that when there were complaints of strange voices and screams of a woman yelling for help. In 1962 they renovated it and made it a school."

"That goes along with an article I found too," Hinata started as soon as Haku ended in such a way that it didn't feel like 2 different people speaking, but one person with 2 voices. "I found a story from the newspaper about two girls and their boyfriends who had snuck back into the school after dark because it was a popular fear challenge or initiation thing or something like that. They were planning on spending the night, each couple in a different classroom for, you know, privacy," she flushed in embarrassment. "Long story short, one of the girls started getting frisky and her boyfriend went to the other room, on a different floor, to ask for a, you know, a— a condom," she whispered the last word. "They heard her scream and when they went to check what was up, she was dead. She had been raped and mutilated with an inverted cross carved into her torso."

"Word is that the students avoid making out or anything else of the sort on school grounds because at least one of the persons involved always ends up having some sort of misfortune like falling down the stairs or being locked in a locker or closet and other things of the sort. The worst case I found was when a gay couple snuck a kiss in the showers and the water turned scalding hot and gave them both second degree burns." Sasuke smirked before adding, "If I had attended that school, the spirit wouldn't have had time to attack anyone else."

"That's so scary," Sakura's whispered.

Naruto's brow furrowed in concern and he gently touched Sakura's shoulder to comfort her. Hinata felt he heart clench with jealousy but pushed it away to focus on the mission.

"So, what did you find?" Haku asked Naruto.

"The school crest is the family crest of the school's founder: Hayate Misul. He was a kind man who was generous with his wealth, and was quite a ladies' man. He married 3 separate times, each wife dying of 'natural causes.' People thought he was just unlucky, but I did some more digging and I think it's safe to say that he was a Hunter and his wives were killed by supernatural beings. After the death of his second wife he bought the property and renovated it into a school. Misul Academy began as a school for underprivileged youths who showed a lot of potential but lacked opportunity to develop. He'd be disappointed to see that it's a posh academy for the rich now," Naruto added before continuing. "His third wife, who was a school teacher at the academy, is said to have been his soulmate. So, when she passed, he was so grieved that he died of heartbreak. It's said that he had bought her a beautiful lock and key pendant, calling it the key to his heart, and when she passed, he kept the lock but hid the key at the school where he tried to bring her back to life which resulted in the Council of Hunters condemning him and his memory. He was removed from the Hunter Registry. He died that same night, in the school. Some people say that he was successful in bringing her back, but in order to bring someone back from the dead, he had to trade a life for a life and so he gave his life."

"That must be the key to this lock and it's somewhere in that school," Hinata looked at the book, an expression of pure determination on her face.

"That's so romantic," Sakura sighed.

"Romantic? Did we just hear the same story?" Sasuke scoffed.

"He loved her so much he couldn't imagine continuing life without her."

"He married two other women before her."

"He hadn't met her yet and he must've thought he was in love with the others too," Sakura defended.

"Tch," Sasuke made a face. "You think that what Naruto just told us is a love story, but what he told us wasn't a tale of love. We just heard the story of a Hunter who failed to protect the people he claimed to love. What killed him wasn't heartbreak. It was guilt at being such a sad excuse of a Hunter that he couldn't go on living knowing that."

"Maybe those spirits and demons were really strong!" Sakura wanted so desperately for it to be a love story. She wanted to believe that love like that wasn't just fiction, but could actually happen.

"You have read way too many romance novels."

"Sasuke, that's enough" Haku cut in.

"No, the stupid bastard was selfish. Let's say they were really in love. If he couldn't live without her, what makes him think that giving up his life so that she may live is the kind thing to do? Now she has to live knowing that every breath she takes should have been his because he traded his life for hers. He gets to be at peace in the afterlife and she's here, in this dirty and tainted world carrying the guiltiest of guilty consciences and you think he really loved her? How can she ever be happy again with that knowledge? If he had loved her more than he loved himself, he would have continued to live as a good man to honor her until the day death came for him," Sasuke finished and Sakura found herself staring into his fierce eyes, her pulse racing and her heart pounding against her ribcage.

She had known that all three guys were absolutely gorgeous and she had felt an instant connection with Naruto since the moment he had tried to calm and comfort her in the car ride back to the base, but there was something about the way Sasuke talked about love so passionately, despite seeming so cold, that made her heart skip a beat and made her forget how to speak or form intelligent thought for a few moments.

"Girls always think they know what love is, but they're just delusional fools with stupid fantasies," Sasuke said before he stood up and left the group.

"Sasuke," Hinata called. "Sasuke!" she tried again and followed him when he didn't turn around.

"You'd never believe it, but that guy believes in true love more than the rest of us," Haku explained. "He's dated a lot of girls and it only takes them a day or two to tell him that they love him. I don't think he's ever told a girl he loved her."

Sakura looked over her shoulder at Sasuke's retreating figure. She could see why girls fell for him quickly. She was a textbook example of a girl who fell for Sasuke quickly. She was determined to become the first girl to hear Sasuke say he loved her. So, when she saw Hinata sit down next to Sasuke on the sofa and place her hand on his, she instantly saw competition and Sakura hated to lose.

Haku looked at the same pair of people and, instead of jealousy, he smiled as he saw Hinata, with her beautiful heart, comforting someone even though she was the one who probably needed the most comforting considering everything that had happened in the last week.

…

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked Sasuke quietly, taking his hand in hers.

"I just needed to get away from her stupidity. I'm so sick of girls like her. Romantic? What the hell do they know about love and romance?"

"Girls always fantasize about love. That's normal and, yes, we don't all have the same ideas about what love really means, but you can't get angry at her for thinking that what Naruto told us was a love story. Everyone thinks they know what love is and what love will make them do, but you can't be sure until the time comes. Love made Uncle Kizashi leave his family and cut off all contact to keep them safe."

"What do you think love is?" he turned to look at her.

"Me? I think love is something that develops over time. I think that love is when you see a couple that's been married for 60 years walking down the street holding hands knowing that they've fought and cried and been through all sorts of hardships, but have continued to try to make it work because they know that the other person is worth it. I think true love is when you begin to notice someone's flaws but it makes you love them more for their imperfections than their perfections. I don't know if I'm making any sort of sense," she smiled and shrugged a little sheepishly.

Sasuke stared at her and was suddenly very aware of how her hands were calloused from all of her combat and weapons training, and yet her touch was soft as a feather.

"Are you okay now?" she asked.

He nodded his head and she stood up, his hand still in hers. She smiled and let go of his hand as she turned to go back to the others, but before he even realized what he was doing, he grabbed her hand again and pulled her back so that she stood between his legs directly in front of him. She looked at him curiously, but he just slowly wrapped his arms around her middle and pulled her closer.

"Sorry, I just wanted to hug you," he said in a low voice.

"Okay," she replied and returned the hug, cradling his head that was against her stomach. She gently caressed his hair not noticing the way Sakura glared or the way Haku's expression had become unsure as he looked at Sasuke.

"Are they dating?" Itsuki asked.

"Sorry?" Naruto looked up from his monitor and at what everyone else was staring at. "Oh," he chuckled. "No. They're not dating. Hinata's like our baby sister."

"Baby sister?" Sakura tore her eyes away and turned her attention to Naruto.

"We already told you that the 4 of us grew up together so even though people might think it's weird that we can be around someone as beautiful as her and not be pursuing her romantically, it's not like that. It's almost impossible for us to see her as anything other than our sister," Naruto explained.

"That's nice," Sakura turned back to see Hinata and Sasuke returning, feeling more confident that she'd be able to catch Sasuke.

"You good?" Haku asked Sasuke uneasily.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry if what I was saying upset you," Sakura apologized.

He grimaced, "I couldn't care less what you said or thought. I just wanted to get away from a useless conversation."

"Sasuke," Naruto scolded when he saw how Sasuke's words affected Sakura.

"Please don't take it personally," Hinata told Sakura. "Sasuke speaks like this to everyone."

"Not everyone," Sasuke corrected. "I don't talk to you like that," he grinned at Hinata.

Hinata tried and failed to hide a smile as she said, "You should be so proud of that," sarcastically.

"Anyways, getting back to the mission at hand," Naruto got back down to business. "It seems like most of the spirits are mere echoes and aren't harmful. The only spirit that seems to be dangerous that we'll probably have to exorcise is the one who killed the 3 people back when the school was a detention center."

"Well, it'll be easy enough to draw him out. I'm more concerned with whether or not we'll be able to find the key," Haku sighed.

"I've printed off the school map. I figure that Sasuke and Haku can search this side of the school while Hinata, Itsuki, and I search the other side," Naruto pointed.

"What about me?" Sakura asked.

"You're not coming," Sasuke said curtly.

"Umm, yes, I am," she said firmly.

"You're not trained like we are and you'd be safer here," Itsuki agreed with the others.

"It's better if I'm there with you guys. There are secret passages that we use to sneak off school grounds that aren't on the map. What if the key is hidden in one of those?"

"She has a point," Haku didn't like the idea of taking a civilian with them, but knew that what she said was true.

"Then we'll go during school hours tomorrow and you can give us a tour," Hinata suggested.

"Why are you guys trying to leave me out of this? I've been affected by all of this shit as much as you guys," she snapped at Hinata.

"Because, as your brother already said, you're not trained for this. Do you even know how to use a weapon? Have you ever even been in a fight? This isn't a game. We're risking our lives and you're a liability." Sasuke let out an annoyed sigh.

"You'll be safest here," Hinata gave her an apologetic face.

Sakura sighed, a plan forming in her head, before responding, "Fine. I guess you guys can come to school around lunch time and I can give you a quick tour so you get familiar with the layout and then I can show you the secrets."

"Thanks for being so understanding," Naruto smiled at her.

"Shouldn't we be taking Sakura and Itsuki back home or wherever they're staying? It's getting late. Or, are they staying with us?" Haku asked Naruto and Sasuke.

"I want to stay with you guys," Itsuki said firmly. "You're the first people I've been able to be completely open with. I don't have to pretend to be like everyone else."

"We're in Nigiyaka now, but there's no guarantee that we'll be staying here. Uncle Kizashi's message brought us here, but the other two keys could be in a completely different country for all we know. It's better if you don't get close to us. It's safer for you if you go back to your life."

"I don't want to go back to my life. I want to see this through to the end with you guys. I don't know why you're searching for those keys, why you guys had to leave your life behind, why you started this mission, but I know that it has something to do with whatever killed my mom and dad. I deserve to know what this is all about and I am not going to sit on the sidelines. I'm with you to the end," his voice was steady and with that, he became one of them.

"Welcome to the team," Naruto grunted, clapping Itsuki on the shoulder.

"I'm staying too. And before you say no, remember that something tried to kill me and my brother today. I don't know if it's just an isolated event or not, but if you leave me behind, you're leaving me completely unprotected and I won't survive another attack. I'm a fast learner. You could teach me how to do the things you do so that I'm not a liability, but an asset."

"She wouldn't be able to use spells or enchantments, but she could help us with research and do some first aid," Hinata suggested, though it was obvious she was very doubtful.

"She's not as strong or fast as we are. She's not as spiritually sensitive so it would be easy for her to get possessed. Not to mention the fact that if both of them suddenly disappear without any word from whoever their legal guardian is, we would be risking the chance that we're mistaken for kidnappers," Sasuke was not open to the idea at all.

"That's true," Haku nodded his head. "I mean, your parents informed everyone important that you guys and Hinata were just going on a trip and my parents are back home telling people I went with you guys, but if Sakura and Itsuki's guardian doesn't okay them being away for an undetermined length of time, we wouldn't be hiding from only Neji, but we'd have to stay under the radar of everyone else as well."

"But what she said is true as well. She's defenseless without Itsuki. We could also train her to see spirits and demons. There are certain Hunters out there who weren't born with a Hunter's Mark and gained the ability to see spirits," Naruto reminded, and it was obvious to the rest of them that Naruto had made up his mind. They knew that once he decided something, there was no use in arguing with him as he was as stubborn and determined as a rock.

"Who's your guardian?" Hinata asked.

"Well, we're living on our own, but our aunt comes by to check on us and acts as our legal guardian," Sakura replied.

"Tell her you're going on a trip to visit your dad. If she asks how you're going, say that you and Itsuki plan on making it a memorable trip in honor of your mother who wished you guys had spent more time together as family so you're taking buses and trains and taking in sights along the way to strengthen your relationship or whatever. If she says no or that she'll go with you or anything like that, you tell her that you couldn't ask her to drop everything and go with you guys. Say whatever you need to make her agree to it," Naruto said.

"Thank you!"

"But, if you're going to come with us, you'll need to do exactly as we say. You can't second guess us when it comes to anything related to hunting. Ever," Haku wasn't so sure that bringing Sakura along was a good idea but he was willing.

"You'll be staying back at wherever our bases are until we think you're ready to be out there with us. Got it?" Sasuke stared at her with his piercing gaze.

"Of course," she nodded her head.

"Will we have enough room in the SUV for 6 people and all of our luggage and equipment?" Hinata remembered how full the SUV had been with only the 4 of them because of the amount of supplies and equipment they needed to travel with.

"Well it's nice of you to think of that after my idiot brother already said yes," Sasuke scoffed.

"We have a car," Itsuki cut in.

"Then we're fine," Naruto nodded.

"I can drop Sakura off at school in the morning and then come back here with our things," Itsuki suggested.

"That sounds good," Naruto nodded his head.

"So, we can spend the night here tonight?" Sakura asked. "I'm still a bit scared to go back home and I'd feel safer with you all," she looked at each person but her eyes lingered on Sasuke for a while longer than anyone else.

"Taking you back home would be a hassle now anyways," Sasuke said before he left the group.

"I'll help you pack tomorrow morning," Hinata smiled at Sakura and then at Itsuki who smiled warmly back at her.

Itsuki was handsome and though he shared the same, large green eyes as his sister, that's where the similarities stopped. His wavy hair was a flax blonde, like his mother's, while his sister's was a bright pink. His teeth were slightly crooked, but made him look boyish and approachable. He was 5 feet 7 inches tall so he was a bit shorter than Sakura's model-like 5 feet 8 inches, but it was clear that he was still growing. His skin was a sandy ivory and helped define his slim build and showed off his cheekbones. His jaw was rather slender and, in addition to his large eyes, made him pretty. Girls didn't call him hot. They called him cute, but he knew how to use his appearance to his advantage.

"I'll lend you something to sleep in," Hinata and Sakura went to the women's locker room while Haku and Itsuki went to the men's room.

"Why are you being such an ass to Sakura?" Naruto asked as he helped Sasuke lay out the blankets and sleeping bags in the boxing ring for everyone.

"I'm an ass to everyone, remember?"

"Cut her some slack."

"Well, now that she's going to be around all the time, I'll try my best, but there's no guarantee," Sasuke shrugged.

"It might be awkward for Itsuki and Sakura to sleep with the rest of us, so I think Sakura should sleep in the medical room and Itsuki could get the sofa," Hinata said as she came out, dressed in a large T-shirt and a pair of old sweatpants.

"Are those my sweatpants from grade 7?" Naruto asked.

"Why, yes. Yes, they are," Hinata grinned.

"And that's my old volleyball jersey that I gave you," Sasuke let out a laugh.

"Yes."

"You really are like a little sister," Naruto laughed as well.

"If we give Sakura and Itsuki one blanket each, then the 4 of us will have to make do with 3 blankets. That should be fine, right?" Hinata looked at the brothers.

"Well, since you're the smallest, you'll have to share with someone," Sasuke lightly flicked her forehead.

"My blanket's the largest so I guess I'll share with Hinata," Haku said, joining them.

"Okay," she agreed before she turned to Itsuki who had returned with Haku. "You sleep on the sofa," Hinata tossed him one of the smaller blankets.

"Where's Sakura?" Itsuki caught the bundle and started to head to the sofa.

"She's taking a shower."

"Since she doesn't know anything about what we do, we'll need to tell her the rules; like don't break the salt lines and things like that," Itsuki reminded them.

"Itsuki, maybe you should talk to her about all that stuff since she's your sister," Haku suggested.

"That's probably best," Itsuki nodded his head.

Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku set up their sleeping areas in the ring and were close to sleep when Sakura finally came out of the bathroom. Itsuki explained all the rules and let her know that she could sleep on the bed in the medical room before he made himself comfortable on the sofa.

"Can I sleep here?" Sakura shook Naruto awake knowing that he was more likely to say yes than Sasuke. "I'm a little afraid to sleep alone," she bit her lip.

"Of course," Naruto nodded his head.

"Sakura, you can take my spot then," Hinata got out of her spot between Sasuke and Haku before she headed to the office which also acted as their research room.

"Are you sure?" Sakura was elated that she could sleep beside Sasuke.

"I'm not that sleepy," Hinata replied over her shoulder.

Sakura laid out her blanket where Hinata had been sleeping after Haku and Sasuke shifted to make some room for her and snuggled closer to Sasuke. She closed her eyes and let sleep drift over her while Sasuke lay awake staring after Hinata.

He knew that Hinata had been bombarded with information the past few days and that she needed time to herself. He watched her looking for a pencil after taking a piece of paper out of the printer and he sighed, getting up and going to the men's locker room to grab a small case he had packed.

"Hey," she smiled at him, using a pen to doodle since she had no luck finding a pencil. "Why aren't you sleeping? You must be exhausted."

"Here," he handed her the case and ignored her question.

She opened it and looked up at him in surprise.

"I thought you'd want some of your supplies," Sasuke shrugged.

"You're amazing," she smiled at him and laid out some of her art supplies and pencils from the case along with her sketch book before she began to sketch.

Sasuke just watched her silently with a peaceful expression on his face as she created beautiful art and, in this moment, he knew that he could be happy with her forever.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this story has no beta. There will probably be spelling & grammatical errors.

Author's Note: Fans of Sakura will probably hate me for how she's portrayed in this chapter and the next. I will admit, I'm not the biggest Sakura fan, but I promise that eventually she will be redeemed. Sorry to all the Sakura fans out there.

Reviews are appreciated.

…

Chapter 5

"Sasuke," Hinata gently shook Sasuke awake, "eat some breakfast."

Sasuke sat up and stretched as Hinata set down a tray of food in front of him. "I missed our morning work out?" he rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn.

"I know you went to bed late and I wanted to let you get some rest," Hinata grinned and sat down beside him.

"Did you sleep?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course," she lied.

"You know that you're a horrible liar, right?"

"I had a lot on my mind and sleep didn't come. Hurry up and eat."

"What time is it?"

"It's almost 7:30. Naruto and I are going to take Sakura and Itsuki home now. Let me know if there's anything you want us to pick up on our way back," she said before she stood up and left the room.

"Is Sasuke finally awake?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. Are we leaving now?"

"Yes," Naruto nodded.

"Hinata, it's a bit chilly so wear this," Haku handed her a jacket.

"Thanks," she grinned and zipped it up before she followed Naruto outside to the SUV.

She sat in the back with Sakura while Naruto drove and Itsuki chatted about this and that with Naruto up front. Sakura watched Hinata, studying her trying to figure out what it was about Hinata that made Sasuke treat her differently. She had been very disappointed when she had woken up in the middle of the night only to see that Sasuke had joined Hinata. She had seen the way Sasuke watched Hinata with such a tender expression.

"I bet a lot of people tell you you're beautiful," Sakura said to Hinata.

"There aren't very many people who talk to me other than Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku, but they tell me I'm beautiful sometimes. Uncle Kizashi would tell me I was beautiful every day," she added sadly.

"Your boyfriends must get really self-conscious around Sasuke and the others."

"Oh, I've never had a boyfriend before."

"But you're so pretty," Sakura was legitimately surprised.

"Do guys only date girls they think are pretty? Are people really that shallow?" Hinata asked with genuine curiosity, but Sakura heard it as a dig and her dislike for Hinata began to bud.

"Some people are," Itsuki chipped in. "I know a lot of guys who don't care what a girl is actually like as long as they think she's smoking hot."

"Oh," Hinata frowned in disappointment.

"Why do you seem so surprised?" Naruto laughed. "Sasuke's kind of like that."

"I guess so."

"Sasuke only likes pretty girls?" Sakura's interest was recaptured.

"Sasuke has dated a lot of girls and the only thing that all of them have had in common was that they were all beautiful," Naruto nodded his head.

"But he was never serious about any of them," Hinata added. "It was actually pretty terrible of him."

"You shouldn't talk behind his back like this," Sakura shot at Hinata self-righteously.

"Oh, I've said it to him too," Hinata laughed, missing Sakura's tone.

"In my brother's defense, he's never asked any of the girls out. They always come to him and he doesn't say no. He's an equal opportunist."

"It's that easy?" Sakura was a bit shocked.

"Yes, but he also breaks up with those girls quickly. He gives them all a chance, but he's really just looking for The One. He doesn't want to risk letting her slip through his fingers so he'll give almost any girl a chance, but once he's sure she's not his soulmate, he'll break up with her. I don't think he's ever really fallen for a girl," Hinata explained.

"Yesterday Hinata told me that most hunters have a specialty. What's yours, Itsuki?" Sakura changed the subject, not really wanting the others to notice that she was interested in Sasuke yet.

"I specialize in blessings and invention," Itsuki replied forgetting that he needed to elaborate because Sakura would have no idea what that meant.

"We need to bless or enchant all of our weapons to be effective on spirits since they don't have a physical body. For example, if we shot a regular bullet through a regular gun at a ghost, there would be no effect. We'd either need to use salt rounds or a gun and bullets that had been blessed. It's actually not very common to be able to bless. As for inventions, it's not really inventing objects, though it could be, but usually it's inventing new spells to attack or defend. Invention is probably the rarest specialty," Naruto explained when he noticed Sakura's confused expression through the rearview mirror.

"You have a rare gift," Sakura beamed proudly at her brother.

"Yeah, but I think I might have to give up on blessing. I can do it, but not very well compared to some others."

"I don't understand."

"The strength and the effectiveness of the weapons depend on who blessed it. If Naruto blessed a knife, it would be completely ineffective since he doesn't have that ability. If someone with a moderate ability blessed it, it might be good enough to use to injure the spirit, but if an Elite or an Elder blessed it, the knife would be deadly. Most of the weapons in our arsenal have been enchanted by the Elders, but with some things, like bullets, Naruto and Sasuke's father or I will bless it. I'm sure your ability is just fine. We can't all be perfect at something right away," Hinata grinned at Itsuki.

"You can bless as well?"

"I learned from Naruto's father, but I'm still trying to polish it up so that it can do more than just injure."

"How come you don't have a specialty?" Sakura asked.

"Did Hinata say she didn't have a specialty?" Naruto scoffed.

"How can you not have a specialty?" Itsuki turned to face Hinata.

She shrugged, "I'm just not phenomenal at anything in particular."

"Hinata's a pretty well-rounded hunter. She has the ability to do everything which is pretty unique, and she is above average in every primary field, but there isn't anything in particular that she is phenomenal at. I guess her strongest categories are blessing, and cryptology. If she continues to improve at the rate she is now though, she'll be the like the textbook model of a Hunter." Naruto paused and added, "There is one more thing that makes her unique though. She has the ability to feel spirits' emotions."

"Whoa! You're an Empath? That's crazy rare! I heard that there are only about 3 true Empaths born every generation in the entire world," Itsuki exclaimed

"You're one to talk. There is only 1 inventor born every 40 or so years," Hinata smiled at Itsuki.

"You're just perfect, aren't you?" Sakura pursed her lips.

"Not even close," Hinata didn't catch the edge in Sakura's voice or the spite in Sakura's eyes.

"We're here," Naruto pulled into the driveway of Sakura and Itsuki's house.

"Grab whatever you need for school and we'll drop you off before Hinata helps Itsuki pack. Hinata will pack for you, if that's okay," Naruto told Sakura.

"Sure," Sakura got out of the car and quickly ran inside to change and grab her books.

"Is it okay for you to miss class?" Hinata asked Itsuki.

"You guys are missing school too," Itsuki shrugged. "Besides, we all know that this is more important."

They waited in a comfortable silence for another 40 minutes until Sakura returned. She had changed into a pale pink shift dress with long sleeves. The dress ended slightly above her knees and was cute and conservative at the same time. She had put on makeup to add a slight glow to her light complexion.

"Really?" Itsuki rolled his eyes. "You made us wait for 40 minutes so that you could put your makeup on?"

"You guys told me to act natural and I always wear makeup," Sakura replied.

"Whatever you say," Itsuki huffed.

"You look really pretty," Hinata complimented Sakura.

"Thanks."

"So, Sakura," Naruto cleared his throat, "what do you like to do in your spare time?"

"That's a bit out of nowhere," Sakura giggled.

"I just realized that you've been bombarded with information about us, and we didn't really take the time to learn much about you."

"Oh, well, I love music and singing and I really enjoy acting," she replied.

"Sasuke and I love music too. Sometimes we just sit in the car singing along to whatever song's playing."

"You must have a nice voice," Naruto managed to give Sakura a warm smile over his shoulder while he drove.

"She's just okay," Itsuki shrugged.

"I didn't really peg any of you as music lovers," Sakura shot Itsuki a scathing look for a moment before continuing the conversation.

"Sasuke and Hinata spend hours listening to music together or they'll start singing while Sasuke plays guitar or piano. If we weren't hunters, Sasuke and Hinata could have made a great musical duo."

"The three of us have to talk more about this later," Sakura grinned, seeing the perfect "in" with Sasuke.

"Definitely," Hinata agreed.

"Here we are," Naruto stopped the car at the front entrance of the school.

"What time does your lunch break start?" Itsuki asked while Sakura got out of the car.

"12:10," she replied, ignoring a boy who was calling her name in the distance.

"We'll meet you back here at 12:10. If there's anything in particular that you need me to pack, send me a text and I'll make sure I don't forget it," Hinata told her.

"Okay," Sakura nodded her head.

"We'll see you later," Hinata nodded her head and shut the door before they drove away.

"I'll drop the two of you off so that you guys can pack. When you're finished, come back to the gym and we'll get ready to do some reconnaissance."

"We'll pack as quickly as possible," Itsuki nodded.

…

"I'm telling you, they're all beautiful," Sakura said to her friends as they waited for Hinata and the others to arrive. "Naruto has the bluest eyes I've ever seen and a perfectly chiseled physique. Haku is prettier than all of you, but he's also tall and built, and he's like the doctor of the group so he must be really smart. Honestly, I wasn't sure if he was a pretty guy or a built girl when I first saw him. Last, but definitely not least, is Sasuke, but he's mine so hands off," Sakura warned her friends.

"Androgenous, built, and smart? This Haku guy sounds perfect," one of her friends grinned.

"What about the girl?" another friend asked.

"Huh?" Sakura turned to look at the friend who had asked.

"You said that your brother, 3 guys, and some girl were coming to visit. You've gone on and on about the guys, but what about the girl? If she's travelling with 3 guys, then she must either be dating one of them, related to one of them, or she's lesbian," the girl clarified.

"Well, she's not dating any of them," Sakura began slowly, "but I don't think she's lesbian either. I don't know for sure, but she's basically like a little sister to them all."

"Is she hot?"

"She's okay," Sakura scrunched her nose and shrugged.

"That means she's pretty," one of the other girls laughed. "We all know how Sakura doesn't like to admit anyone's prettier than she is."

"Hey, beautiful," a guy called out to Sakura as he approached with his group of friends.

"Who are you calling beautiful?" Sakura asked despite the fact she knew that he was talking to her.

"You, babe," he stepped closer to her and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Stop it," she giggled and pushed him away.

"Why? Because of the urban legend that something bad happens to people who fool around on school grounds?" he began to nuzzle her neck and shifted around so that her back was to the parking lot and his back was to their group of friends.

"Yes, and also because the guy I'm interested in is going to show up any second now," she feigned protest but they all knew her well enough to know that she liked feeling desirable.

"Just one kiss," his breath was hot on her neck as he whispered.

"No," she shook her head and leaned away from him.

"Come on," he urged.

"I'm serious, no," she pushed him away weakly.

"Nothing bad is going to happen," he insisted.

"Kankuro, no," she repeated, though she didn't try to push him away again.

"But my lips are missing yours."

"She said no. I suggest you step away from her now."

Everyone turned to look at Naruto whose annoyance at Kankuro was clearly written on his face.

It was clear to all of Sakura's friends that she had just been playing hard to get and was toying with Kankuro, but to the others who had just arrived, it looked as if Sakura was being victimized and that she was too afraid to fight back.

The girls were staring shamelessly at Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku while the guys and one of Sakura's friend's eyes were fixed on Hinata who looked like a delicate doll.

"Listen, buddy, I don't mean any trouble," Kankuro smirked and stepped away from Sakura who straightened out her clothes and hair. "Besides, we all know that Sakura likes playing hard to get."

"You should leave, Kankuro," Sakura said after taking a deep breath.

"Whatever," Kankuro shrugged and continued on his way with his friends.

"Thanks for that. I have a hard time getting guys to take me seriously when I say no," she smiled at Naruto. "These are my friends, Temari, Tenten, and Karin," Sakura introduced her friends. "Guys, these are the people I was telling you about earlier. You guys remember my brother Itsuki and this is Haku, Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke," she introduced.

"A pleasure," Naruto smiled.

"Nice to meet you," Haku reached out and shook hands with each of them.

"So, which one of you is dating that seriously sexy little thing?" Temari asked, her eyes unable to look away from Hinata.

"She's like our baby sister," Naruto answered. "We don't see her like that."

"How could anyone not see her like that? I'm straight and I feel attracted to her," Tenten said, suddenly extremely self-conscious of her own appearance.

"We didn't come here for small talk," Sasuke scowled. "Can we please get that tour without your little entourage and their commentaries?"

"That was really rude," Temari was a bit taken aback and glared at Sasuke.

"But he's so sexy that I don't care," Karin whispered quietly to her friends.

"I'm sorry about him," Hinata said, giving the group an apologetic smile before she looked at Sasuke with her pleading expression.

"Sorry," Sasuke muttered to Hinata.

"We should get going anyways," Temari shrugged. "We have a meeting regarding the benefit concert at the end of next month."

"We'll see you later," they said bye to Sakura.

"I hope to see you around some more too," Temari purred into Hinata's ear as she passed by.

"I've never been hit on before, much less by a girl. Is that how girls hit on you guys?" Hinata asked her friends.

"Some girls do, but most are not as upfront and aggressive as that girl," Naruto had clearly been entertained by the whole situation and couldn't hold back a smile.

"Well, I don't care if it's a girl or a guy," Sasuke scowled, "the next person to hit on or even look at Hinata like that is dead."

"You're really protective of her, aren't you?" Sakura frowned slightly.

"We all are," Haku nodded his head. "But I agree with Sasuke completely on this one. At least back home the guys knew that she was out of their league and that they'd have to get through us first, but the guys here are too full of themselves. They stare at her like dogs when they should be averting their eyes."

"You guys are being ridiculous," Hinata laughed.

"Sorry," Itsuki apologized timidly.

"What for?" Sakura was confused.

"I think I stared at Hinata like that yesterday when I first saw her," he laughed nervously.

"Almost," Sasuke nodded his head.

"But you're one of us now. You need to protect Hinata from now on," Haku grinned.

Itsuki nodded his head in understanding and smiled back.

"I repeat, you guys are being ridiculous."

"I agree," Sakura said under her breath with a roll of her eyes that no one saw.

"Are you okay, though? If you want, I can make that guy back off and not bother you again," Naruto's expression as he looked at Sakura was reminiscent of the way Sasuke had watched Hinata the night before and Sakura knew that she had Naruto's interest.

"He does come on a bit strong, but I'm alright now. Thanks for asking," she smiled weakly at him. "I should start showing you around the areas of the school that aren't on the floor plan or have changed now."

The group followed her as she showed them the nooks, crannies, and secrets of the school. They noted the areas and Hinata sketched out a new floor plan in her notebook so that they could go back to their base and distribute the areas for the two teams properly for when they returned at night.

"And this is the only door that I've never been through in the school. Apparently, it leads to the basement, but it's always locked. I bet the key is down there somewhere," Sakura said, ending the tour with at an old, but sturdy, door.

"Alright," Naruto nodded his head. "Let's get back to base and get ready for our return later tonight. Sakura, do you know if there's an alarm?"

"As far as I know, there isn't."

"Let's get out of here," Sasuke led the way.

"I'll come pick you up after school," Naruto said to Sakura before he followed the group back to the car.

Sakura watched as Sasuke threw his arm around Hinata's shoulder while Haku took her by the hand. She scowled at the realization that Hinata was getting all the male attention that Sakura was used to getting.

"This is the first time I've seen you jealous," a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"You think I'm jealous of her?" Sakura crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, she is pretty hot, and that guy that you seem so interested in only has eyes for her, so yeah, I think you're jealous of her," Kankuro smirked and snaked an arm around her waist.

"If she's so much prettier than I am, why don't you go make a move on her instead," Sakura huffed and shoved him away.

"Please," he rolled his eyes. "We both know I'm not really her type. Besides, I don't go for virgins."

"You're such an asshole," Sakura glared at him before storming away.

…

"Now that we know the layout a bit better, team 1 should search the second floor, while team 2 searches the first floor. We should meet at the door to the basement and search the basement together since we have no idea what's down there," Naruto pointed at the different areas on the new map that Hinata had drawn.

"How are we going to split up the teams?" Haku asked, launching them into a discussion regarding who should go with who based on combat skill, healing abilities, and recklessness.

"You all brought up valid points. Team 1 for this mission will be Hinata, Itsuki, and me. Sasuke and Haku will be team 2. I feel like this way we cover our butts in terms of healing and fighting skills."

"Okay," Sasuke nodded his head.

"I just got a message from Sakura," Itsuki frowned. "She says that she's going to hang out with her friends after school since she doesn't know when she'll see them next, she wants to spend as much time with them as possible. She'll give us a call when they drop her off at home so that someone can go pick her up later. I'm sorry that my sister's being so inconsiderate of the group."

"No, it's better this way. At least she won't be in our way," Sasuke replied.

"I'm sorry for Sasuke," Hinata apologized to Itsuki. "He promised that he'd try to by nicer to Sakura, but he's having a bit of a hard time with that," Hinata punched Sasuke in the arm and shot him a disapproving glance.

"It's okay. She's my sister and sometimes even I get annoyed. I can only imagine how annoyed you guys must be especially since, unlike me, the four of you grew up together and have never really been close to people who weren't Hunters. It must be like trying to teach a newborn how to do math or something," Itsuki shrugged.

"Exactly," Sasuke nodded his head.

"We should get our supplies ready for the mission," Haku interjected as he headed over to the cabinet to grab some herbs, holy water, and salt.

Hinata followed Haku and helped him pack 5 kits, making sure everyone would have the basics while putting a few extra medical supplies in their own kits. After they were finished with that, they went to the weapons' wall to grab some weapons. Haku was as strong a fighter as Hinata, but he favored long-range weapons and opted to go with a shuriken and senbon. He grabbed a parashu just in case a spirit managed to get closer to him.

Hinata chose to take her kinjal, a wakizashi and tanto pair, and a few kunai. She knew that if they did run into the spirit of the boy in the school, she would be able to fight best with short-range weapons.

After she had finished choosing her weapons, she pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she joined the rest of the group where they were just finishing up their preparations.

"What weapons are you taking?" Naruto asked Itsuki.

"Two handguns, and a sabre," Itsuki replied. "But, they were blessed by me so they're not deadly. I won't be able to kill the spirit unless I use a spell."

"Take this then," Hinata handed Itsuki one of her kunai. "This will be deadly."

"Thanks," he took her kunai gratefully.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Naruto asked as he finished strapping on the sheath to his hunting knife. "Is everyone's earpiece working?"

"You're coming through loud and clear," Sasuke grinned and spoke into his watch radio.

"All good here," Hinata nodded her head, testing out her radio gear at the same time as well.

"Same here," Haku replied into his.

"I've never been part of such a high-tech team before," Itsuki was awed. "Actually, I've never really been on many missions, much less with a team that was skilled enough to split up."

"Itsuki, you need to speak into your radio like this so that we can make sure we can hear you completely as well," Hinata smiled kindly and brought his wrist up to his mouth.

"Oh, sorry," he grinned sheepishly.

"Looks like we're good to go," Naruto nodded, leading the team into the SUV where he got into the driver's seat and began the tense journey to the school.

Sasuke automatically turned on some music to fill the silence. Hinata let out a deep breath as she calmed her nerves, while Haku stole a glance at her.

"Are you okay?" Haku asked, concern etching his face.

"Something feels off," she replied honestly.

Haku took her hand in his and was a bit surprised at how cold they were.

"This isn't even a difficult mission, but I have this knot in my stomach and a feeling like something's not right. Haku, I can't help but feel like something bad is going to happen tonight," she looked up into his eyes.

Haku didn't know what he could say to reassure and comfort her so he just pulled her into a warm hug. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"But what if something happens to you?" she pulled away and looked up at him. "Or what if something happens to Naruto or Sasuke or Itsuki?"

"We're a team and we'll all look out for each other," Naruto said in a firm voice from the front.

Despite the fact that music was playing, the silence was deafening and the tension was so thick it was almost difficult to breathe.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this story has no beta. There will probably be spelling & grammatical errors.

Read and review, please.

…

Chapter 6

Naruto parked behind the school and turned to face the team, "Remember, our goal is to find that key. If you happen to come across the spirit, then cleanse it, but it is not our priority. Understood?"

They all nodded with determined expressions on their faces.

"Good."

They filed out of the car and went to the back door where Hinata began to draw the charm to unlock the door. She didn't get to complete the charm before she had to quickly jump out of the way of the swinging door when it suddenly opened with no warning.

"What are you doing here?" Itsuki hissed at Sakura who stepped out slightly, holding the door open.

"I waited here for you guys to come. I thought that you might need someone to open the door," she shrugged, feigning innocence.

"You know what type of person I hate the most? Liars," Sasuke shot an icy glare at Sakura.

"This must have been the bad feeling you had," Haku sighed and shook his head.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Itsuki pulled Sakura outside, letting the door close behind her. "We agreed that you would get basic training later, and that you wouldn't be around for any actual missions until we thought you were ready. Why can't you understand that we're just protecting you?"

"Sorry, I just didn't want to be alone. I want to help," Sakura looked from person to person.

"Stay in the fucking car," Sasuke growled.

"No, we can't guarantee her safety in the car and we don't have enough salt to spare in order to make a barrier," Naruto sighed and massaged his temples.

"Someone needs to take her back to the base," Haku let out a sigh and shook his head as well.

"I'll go," Itsuki offered. "You guys have done missions like this before and I'm really the most disposable member at the moment so I'll take Sakura back to the base." It was obvious to everyone how disheartened Itsuki was.

"No, I'll go. I'll drop her off and come right back so you guys begin with the search. Sasuke and Haku search the first floor and Hinata and Itsuki, you guys search the second floor," Naruto knew that what Itsuki said was true, but as the leader of the group he didn't want to make Itsuki feel left out.

"I don't think that's a good idea either. Maybe we should just come back tomorrow night," Hinata suggested.

"Can we really afford to waste time though?" Haku asked.

"Do you see what you've done?" Sasuke growled at Sakura.

"We'll keep Sakura with us. Itsuki, Hinata, and I will be responsible for keeping her safe," Naruto decided and Sakura couldn't hide the triumphant smile on her face.

Hinata quickly drew the charm to unlock the door with her hands and fused it with the door. The charm began to glow on the door for 10 seconds as they walked in before it faded and the door locked again behind them.

"At the first sign of anything, make sure you let us know," Haku took Hinata's face in his hands and lightly brushed her cheek with his thumb before they split up.

…

"See, you guys were freaking out over nothing," Sakura said as they searched the second floor.

"We can't afford to underestimate things," Hinata replied quietly as she opened the door to a music room and they entered to search it.

" _Hmm~_ ," Sakura began to hum as she followed the others.

"Shh," Itsuki shushed his sister.

Sakura shot him a glare and made a face but stopped humming nonetheless.

"Are you insane?!" Itsuki snapped at Sakura when she had absent-mindedly ran her fingers through some chimes.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Are you trying to alert the spirit to our presence? Are you trying to make it more difficult for us to hear anything approaching?" Itsuki hissed.

"You need to be as silent as possible so that we can hear approaching danger," Naruto explained.

"Oh, sorry," she shrugged and glared at Itsuki again. "You could have explained it nicely."

"And you could have stayed away," Itsuki sighed.

"Guys," Hinata hushed them when she felt the drop in temperature that usually accompanied the presence of a spirit. She let out a breath, confirming that something was coming when her breath came out as vapor.

Immediately Hinata, Itsuki and Naruto moved to hide against the wall. Sakura followed, tripping over an instrument case and letting out a sharp shriek as she fell.

Naruto instantly dove to catch her.

"Such obscene behavior," they all froze when the spirit materialized.

Sakura was currently lying on top of Naruto, but her head was facing the front of the room where a spirit stood. Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she stared at the gaunt, hateful expression that was currently aimed at her.

Hinata grabbed her wakizashi and tanto and stood in a defensive position while Itsuki stood with his guns ready. "We've encountered the spirit," Hinata spoke into her watch.

" _We're on our way_ ," Sasuke replied.

"You're misunderstanding the situation," Hinata spoke slowly, trying to get the spirit's focus away from Sakura. "She tripped and was falling so he caught her so that she wouldn't get injured."

The spirit growled once before it launched forward at Sakura. Naruto rolled with Sakura out of the spirit's way while Hinata rushed forward. She swung her wakizashi at the spirit's outreaching hand and sliced the limb off. He howled in pain, but shocked everyone when his hand disappeared off the floor and appeared back in its proper place.

"What the hell," Naruto was now on his feet, standing in front of Sakura. "Stay back," Naruto ordered as he jumped forward to help Itsuki and Hinata with their fight.

Sakura couldn't stop her legs from shaking and dropped to the ground as she watched the fight before her. Naruto had taken out two kunai and was currently slicing into the spirit's torso while Hinata sliced through the spirit's neck, decapitating him easily.

They were about to sheathe their weapons when they realized that although the spirit's body had disappeared, it hadn't been accompanied with the usual burst of lights that came when a spirit was cleansed.

"Are you okay?" Itsuki asked as he knelt in front of Sakura.

She nodded her head.

"Itsuki, I don't think it's been cleansed," Naruto warned.

"I can't die as long as she lives."

Sakura froze when the whisper entered her ear from right behind her. She began to scream when the spirit slashed at her, leaving deep gashes in her shoulder blade before Itsuki shielded her body with his.

Naruto threw his kunai at the spirit, giving Itsuki enough time to get Sakura out of the way before Hinata grabbed the spirit and threw him out the open door into the hallway where she and Naruto followed, attacking relentlessly.

"Are you okay?" Itsuki asked again as he grunted in pain.

"Are you?" Sakura asked back.

"Stay here," Itsuki ordered, surrounding her with a line of unbroken salt. "If you don't break this line and stay inside, it won't be able to touch you," with that he ran out to the hallway.

…

"We can't cleanse this spirit the normal way," Naruto grunted when Haku and Sasuke joined them just as Hinata's body was thrown into a glass display case.

Naruto and Sasuke immediately continued the attack.

"We don't know what this spirit is linked with either so I think the best thing we can do is trap him," Hinata spoke to Haku and Itsuki as she got back to her feet, ignoring the broken glass that was still embedded in her flesh and the deep gashes that were bleeding.

"We'll get the symbol ready while you distract the spirit," Haku nodded. If they were in any other situation, Hinata knew that he would have insisted that she stop and let him heal her, but even he could see that they needed all 5 of them to deal with this spirit.

Hinata leapt forward in alarm when Sasuke went flying into a wall. She ducked under a punch that the spirit threw before she sliced into his side with her blade. Sasuke joined her and Naruto again and they kept the spirit occupied while Haku and Itsuki quickly fused the necessary symbols into the floor where they planned on trapping the spirit.

"Is it just me, or is he getting stronger?" Hinata grunted as she blocked a kick before landing one of her own.

"Yeah, he is," Naruto used his elbow to strike the side of the spirit's head.

Hinata stabbed the spirit in the back and sliced down the length of his entire spine while Sasuke landed a solid uppercut causing the spirit to shriek and writhe in pain before he began to vanish.

"I don't think so," Hinata moved her hands quickly and drew a symbol that would prevent the spirit from vanishing for the next few minutes and pushed it into his chest.

"It's ready!" Haku called when they had completed the trap.

Hinata saw the spirit lunge for her arm and barely dodged out of the way before Sasuke grabbed the spirit by the collar, throwing him over his shoulder so that he landed precisely in the center of a smaller circle within a larger one with symbols between creating a thick translucent wall of light that flared up as soon as the spirit had landed inside.

The spirit began to pound at the wall, howling in uncontrollable rage while the group of 5 let out uneasy breaths as they tried to collect themselves again.

"Come here, let me take a look at you," Sasuke grabbed Hinata's arm and pulled her closer as he tried to get a closer look at her wounds.

"I'm fine," she smiled and pushed him away.

"You're not fine. You've lost a lot of blood," Haku was at her side, taking into account her blood on the ground, the mess in her hair, and her extra pale complexion.

"Where's Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"She's still in the music room. I surrounded her with a salt line," Itsuki grunted in pain.

Haku quickly examined Itsuki's injuries and healed the deep cuts just enough for them to stop bleeding before returning to Hinata to stop her bleeding after Sasuke removed the shards of glass from her back and arms, neither of them able to do anything about the fragments that were tangled in her hair at the moment.

"There's something that's keeping that spirit alive, and we have no idea what it is. There was nothing in our research that spoke of an object that he was particularly attached to," Naruto couldn't understand what was going on.

"We must have missed something. We need to do some more research and return tomorrow," Hinata insisted.

They all jumped when a loud shattering noise interrupted their conversation.

"Oh no," Hinata's eyes were wide and her face lost the little colour it had left.

The spirit had managed to break through the prison they had created and was nowhere in sight. They didn't even bother asking how that was possible before they ran back into the music room where, sure enough, the spirit was trying to get Sakura again. When the spirit realized that he couldn't get passed the salt line, he retreated a few steps and grabbed a cymbal.

As soon as they realized what the spirit was planning on doing, Itsuki ran forward and dove in front of Sakura so that the metal disk that the spirit had thrown sliced into his neck.

"ITSUKI!" Sakura screamed when his body dropped down and his nearly severed neck bled out at an alarming rate. The life left his eyes quickly and before the spirit could attack her again, Naruto grabbed Sakura and the team ran for their lives out of the room towards the steps.

"WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE HIM!" Sakura screamed and sobbed.

Naruto picked her up, all of them ignoring her cries knowing that they needed to run.

Hinata looked over her shoulder and saw the spirit gaining on them. " _I can't fight against him on my own, but maybe I can slow him down a bit_ ," she thought. She formed a symbol with her hand while she ran. She stopped and turned around as soon as she had completed it and the others had run passed her. She held her hands up, a barrier being formed between her and the spirit.

"HINATA, HURRY!" Naruto shouted when they all reached the door.

The spirit was slamming his fists against the barrier and Hinata clenched her teeth as she struggled to keep the barrier active as she backed her way towards the exit. She knew that if she released the barrier and turned around to run at full speed, she would be caught. The only chance she had was to concentrate on keeping the barrier intact and backup until she exited the school.

She let out a cry of effort when one of the spirit's wild thrashes cracked her barrier. She had never seen this type of barrier fracture like this and was shocked to see that the crack looked like a bright light trying to seep out of a tight fracture. " _Just a little further. Don't lose focus now_ ," she thought to herself. She was praying in desperation when additional cracks began to form rapidly one after another.

"Sasuke, get her out of there!"

Hinata heard Naruto's order and knew that Sasuke was probably running towards her right now so that he could carry her out while she held up the barrier. She just needed to hold the barrier for another few seconds.

…...

" _Faster! FASTER!"_ Sasuke had never demanded that his legs move as quickly as he was forcing them to move now. He ran to Hinata faster than he had ever run to or from anything before, and in reality she was only about ten meters away, but it felt like she was on the opposite side of a football field. He felt like everything was moving in slow motion and he was running through water against the current.

She was screaming to the point that her voice sounded hoarse with all the effort and focus it was taking her to keep the barrier up. Up until a moment ago she had been on her feet backing her way to the exit, but now she was on her knees losing strength by the second.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" she turned to look at them with tears glistening in her eyes.

"Like hell we are!" Sasuke grunted just as he reached her. He wrapped an arm around her middle so that they were facing opposite directions; him looking at the exit, and her looking at the spirit.

He took off running, pumping his legs and gritting his teeth. He could hear Hinata's barrier cracking each time the spirit punched, but he only needed to go five more steps.

Four.

Three.

Sasuke heard the barrier shatter and felt his body get thrown forward. He used his free arm to shield his eyes from the bright burst of light. He tightened his hold on Hinata so that the force of her barrier breaking wouldn't separate them and grunted in pain with he hit the wall right beside the open door.

He blinked rapidly, trying to get his vision back so that they could leave. As soon as he could make out the exit, he grabbed Hinata's hand and struggled to his feet as he helped Hinata up as well.

…

Hinata could barely see anything. There were splotches over everything, but she knew that Sasuke held her hand and they were leaving the school. Her barrier breaking had caused a blinding light that had apparently also affected the spirit. She had heard him howl and had seen him get thrown away from them just as she and Sasuke had also been hurled back.

Just as she was able to make out the silhouettes of her friends she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Just one more step and she would have made it out. Just half a second faster and this nightmare could have ended.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and felt a tear escape her eye.

…

Sasuke turned around when he heard Hinata whisper, "I'm sorry."

Her eyes were wide with fear, and he saw a tear run down her cheek while her grip on his hand tightened. She had one foot out of the school and he didn't have time to wonder why she was apologizing before he felt her hand get ripped away from his. He froze for just a second, watching in stunned helplessness as her head snapped back, her body falling away from him while the spirit dragged her back into the school, his hand entangled in and gripping her hair, while she kicked and screamed. And then the door slammed shut.

"HINATA!" Haku's desperate cry snapped Sasuke out of his brief stupor.

Sasuke gripped his chokuto tightly, ready to unleash hell as soon as Haku opened the door, but just as he was about to rush back into the academy, he felt someone grip his shoulder and stop him.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Haku, you guys stay here and keep the civilian safe. You're way out of your league."

"Leave it to us. The two of us will cleanse the spirit and his master." Two men pushed Sasuke and Haku aside and stood in front of the open door, ready to head in.

"Where is Hinata?"

"The spirit has her," he answered just as another one of her screams pierced his heart.

Sasuke looked away when the man who had asked turned to look at him with a pair of accusing and disappointed scarlet eyes. "We will discuss this later," the man shifted his gaze to give Naruto the same look that Sasuke had received.

"Yes, Itachi," Sasuke and Naruto responded in unison, hanging their heads in shame.

"Let's go, Kakashi," Itachi said, leading the way into the dark building, leaving Haku, Naruto, and Sasuke anxiously waiting while they held the doors open.


	7. Chapter 7

**In response to a reviewer's question that I totally forgot to reply to, I haven't decided who I want Hinata to end up with so it's pretty open. I'm curious to know who other people think Hinata should end up with, though I'll end up choosing whichever character develops into the right match for her since all of the characters (Hinata included) are going to change and grow throughout the course of this story.**

 **I want to thank TAYYABALARAIB, Naruhina999, WhiteGems, Thesunkunoichi, EAsis, K, and dumdeedum for taking time to review and leave comments. It's pretty difficult to want to keep posting if I don't know if people are actually reading and enjoying this fic. It's because of you all that this next chapter has been posted (although this is a shorter chapter). Thank you so much!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this story has no beta. There will probably be spelling & grammatical errors. **

**Read and review, please.**

…

Chapter 7

Hinata saw the door slam close, completely separating her from the others. Just as she was about to try to fight back, the spirit picked her up and threw her into the ground so that the wind was knocked out of her lungs for a brief moment. He grabbed her by the head with both hands on either side of her face and slammed her head into the hard, tiled school floor. She heard the sickening crack and felt the warmth of her blood trickling through her hair, leaving her incapacitated and bleeding from the head as the spirit removed all of her weapons from her body. She tried to kick him away when she regained some focus.

"Tsk," he taunted and caught her by her leg easily. "There's nothing more satisfying the taking all the fight out of a girl."

Hinata let out a scream when the spirit grabbed a desk from a nearby classroom and smashed the edge of the desk down on her legs so that her bones broke and the limbs were useless.

She could barely stay conscious, but did so because of the pain that shot through her body when the spirit grabbed her by the ankle, dragging her behind him as he ran to the locked door that led to the basement.

"You know, you're lucky. If I wasn't bound to my master, I would have defiled you already. She likes to have first dibs and you're her type, Hunter," the spirit said, unlocking the door.

As soon as the door opened, Hinata let out a shriek of intense pain as she was bombarded with a tsunami of emotions from whatever was waiting for her in the basement. The amount of hate, animosity, disgust, cruelty, and bloodlust belonging to it was like nothing Hinata had ever experienced before and it felt like it was shredding her heart, stabbing hot pokers through her eyes, slamming a sledgehammer repeatedly into her skull, and tightly wrapping her entire body up in barbed wire all at the same time.

"STOP!" Hinata cried out. "STOP, PLEASE!" She began to sob when the heavy door slammed shut behind them and she saw the dark symbols drawn into the door to block the supernatural activity in the basement from Hunter detection and prevent it from being opened by Hunter enchantments. The only way into the basement was to physically unlock it or break it down, both of which would be a difficult task since the door was reinforced and sturdy. Either way, she knew that she would have to endure what was to come for a while before anyone could get to her. She prayed that help would arrive before she gave up.

The spirit smirked as he dragged her down the concrete steps, bruising her body even more in the process, but she couldn't feel that over the onslaught of emotions that were torturing her psychologically so severely that she began to bleed from her nose and ears. When she lost the strength to even scream, her entire body convulsed with the pain she was trying to fight through while streams of tears were accompanied by shallow gasps as she struggled to even breathe. She wished she could just pass out, but she knew that if she did black out now she risked being trapped by these emotions and she might never return to consciousness again, and so she fought against the darkness that threatened to swallow her whole.

"It must be so nice to be young."

Hinata shifted her eyes to look through blurry tears and heavy lids at the woman who was looking down at her. The woman herself was quite beautiful. She looked to be in her late thirties, but she was undeniably beautiful and eerily familiar.

Hinata let out a whimper when the woman reached out to caress her cheek. The woman's touch burned seeing as she was the source of all the emotions bombarding Hinata. The moment the woman's bare fingers game in contact with Hinata's cheek, a searing white pain erupted in Hinata's head and her body froze, completely paralyzed in agony so brutal she couldn't even breathe.

Hinata gasped and silently sobbed when the woman finally removed her hand.

"You poor, poor thing," the woman cooed though her gentle tone was dripping with mock concern. "You must be a very strong Empath for my touch to have this sort of effect on you," she said as she fixed her slightly skewed silk blouse.

A glint of light reflecting off a pendant hanging around the woman's neck caught Hinata's eye. And that was when she realized who this woman was. She was Hayate Misul's third wife Yui. In addition to the key pendant around her neck, Hinata could recognize the woman from a photo that was on display in the case at the front of the school. She had been older in the photo, closer to fifty, and she looked different dressed in modern clothing with hair dyed from dark brown to bright red that was styled in a much more flattering way.

"Clever girl. You know who I am," Yui saw the moment of recognition pass Hinata's eyes. "Yes, Hayate succeeded in bringing me back to life. Imagine how frightening it was to be brought back into this wretched world only to be welcomed by my husband's corpse. When I saw the markings and symbols that he used to bring me back to life, I started to study sorcery. If I could be brought back to life from the dead, then I should also be able to find a way to stay young and live through all the ages. I found a way," she giggled. Turning to the spirit she spoke, "Get the knife."

Hinata braced herself for the inevitable when the spirit returned with a ceremonial knife. The blade had intricate symbols that Hinata couldn't recognize etched into it. It was obviously a knife that was used for dark rituals that she was about to be used for. The spirit tore her shirt off before pinning her shoulders to the ground.

Yui sliced her finger with the knife and began to draw a foreign symbol on Hinata's chest, her touch leaving a burning trail on Hinata's skin. "Thank you for your heart," the woman smiled as she held the knife with two hands over Hinata's chest while she straddled Hinata's torso. "I'm sure your heart will taste delicious," the woman lifted the knife up above her head and plunged it down towards Hinata's heart but stopped when the unmistakable clunking sound of the door unlocking interrupted.

…

It had taken Kakashi a while longer than anticipated to pick the lock of the door to the basement after all of the typical methods they usually used failed, but once he had opened it, Itachi rushed in with Kakashi on his heels.

His eyes quickly took in everything before him. The basement was clearly a sorceress's lair with said sorceress binding the spirit to herself so that it could never be cleansed while she was still alive. Hinata was pinned to the ground by the two with the sorceress about to use a ceremonial knife to cut out Hinata's still-beating heart in order to ingest it and steal Hinata's youth.

"I got the spirit, you go save the girl from the sorceress," Kakashi said from behind Itachi.

"Get them," Yui ordered the spirit who immediately attacked Kakashi.

Itachi could see shock pass over Yui's features when she realized that her pet spirit was not much of a challenge for Kakashi, even with her assisting it with her magic.

"Stay back!" Yui shouted when she noticed Itachi's eyes shift down to Hinata and back up. "I will kill her painfully if you come any closer."

"Hina Hime," Itachi said in a calm voice, "I need you to be strong for just a bit longer."

Yui snarled at him before she planted both her hands on Hinata's exposed skin. Itachi rushed forward, unsheathing a katana as he did.

He could see that, in addition to bleeding from her nose and ears, Hinata was now also bleeding from her eyes. Her scream was silent, but her face was contorted in pain, mouth agape and foaming. Deep gashes began to appear all over her body. The pain she was feeling in her mind felt so real, that it was materializing as actual injuries on her physical form. Itachi had heard that this was possible, but it was his first time witnessing it.

It only took him a second to reach Hinata, swing his katana, and sever the sorceress's head from her body. It took Kakashi only a moment longer to finally cleanse the spirit after the master had been killed, as evidenced by the burst of lights. It was only then that Itachi allowed his emotions to be shown.

"Hina," Itachi knelt down at Hinata's side, checking her vitals with a faint sliver of concern ghosting over his normally stoic features. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her before he lifted her up in his arms with her head resting on his shoulder, one of his arms supporting her back while the other was hooked under her knees as he hurriedly made his way towards the stairs.

"Key," Hinata's soft whisper stopped him in his tracks.

"What?" Itachi looked down at Hinata's barely conscious face, his chin smearing the blood from her eyes over her face.

"We n-need the k-key pendant from-m-m the sorceress," Hinata choked out through her fatigue and pain before she finally succumbed and passed out.

Itachi couldn't help feeling conflicted. As a Hunter, he felt proud that even in her condition her mind was still focused on the original mission, but at the same time disappointed in her and the others that their skills and preparation were so lacking that they had been so utterly destroyed by such weak adversaries. He had already known that they weren't strong enough to win, but he had thought that they would have been strong enough and have enough intuition to get out without any serious incident.

As someone who thought of her as a younger sister, he was worried out of his mind for her and wondered if she would recover without any serious permanent side effects. A large part of him wondered if she would be okay when Neji finally came for her.

…

"I need someone to tell me what the fuck happened tonight," Itachi's voice was dangerously calm which was in stark contrast with his strong language and dark, stormy aura.

They were back at the base after Haku had done some emergency healing on Hinata while Sakura stayed passed out. At the same time, Naruto and Sasuke had retrieved Itsuki's body, and Kakashi and Itachi had used enchantments to repair and erase any evidence of what had happened that night. Itachi had made sure they collected the pendant and the knife as well since there was no way they could risk the knife falling into the wrong hands again.

It was currently almost five in the morning and Sakura had been placed on the sofa to rest and recover from her shock. Haku was doing everything he could, with the help of Kakashi, to heal Hinata's most serious injuries first. This left Naruto and Sasuke in the office to answer and explain everything to Itachi.

"You guys have never messed up like this before. What happened with your preparation process and your training that you've ended up with a dead hunter, an unconscious civilian, and Hinata in critical condition? You obviously didn't research properly, but regardless of the fact that you missed crucial information, if you guys had been training properly, you should have _all_ been able to make it out of that school alive and with only mild injuries."

"Sorry," Naruto hung his head in shame.

"I'm not asking for an apology. I'm asking for the facts," Itachi spoke through a tight, but not quite clenched, jaw. He looked from one brother to the other before letting out a sigh when neither of them answered after a full two minutes of silence. "We're all tired and stressed. We'll talk about this later after we've all had a chance to rest and calm down. Wash up and get some sleep," he said before he left them alone in the office.

He made his way to the medical room where Haku was bandaging up all of Hinata's wounds while she remained unconscious. He watched from the hallway until Haku was finished, leaving only the bottom half of Hinata's face uncovered while the rest of her was wrapped. She had various injuries all over her body that Itachi wasn't surprised that she had to be bandaged to this extent.

Kakashi looked up after closing a jar of salve and gave Itachi an encouraging smile. If they had not been partners and friends for so long, Itachi would not have been able to tell that Kakashi was smiling because of the mask he wore. "She's a tough one. She'll pull through," Kakashi said to both Itachi and Haku.

Neither responded, but Itachi could see guilt written all over Haku's pale, exhausted face as he finished up what he was doing.

"How is she?" Itachi asked Haku.

"She still requires a lot of healing. I don't know what they did to her, but it's a good thing I focused on healing her head first. If I hadn't, there's no doubt that she would have suffered from brain damage. I did enough back at the school to heal all of that, but it drained me and I haven't been able to do anything about her concussion, all of the wounds on her body, her broken legs, the burns – basically anything else. All we've done since we've returned is clean and dress the wounds to prevent infection until I can use healing symbols and spells again."

Itachi nodded his head as he stared at the pile of Hinata's bloodied clothes on the ground. "Alright. Check on the girl and then get some rest," he said, referring to Sakura. "I'll clean up in here."

Haku nodded his head and left the room with his head hanging in defeat.

"This must be their first time losing a teammate," Kakashi sighed and sat down on a chair before he pulled off the mask that he wore during missions.

Itachi stood at Hinata's head and absentmindedly caressed her head gently as he nodded his head. "Yes, it is, but honestly, I think they're more devastated about Hinata's condition."

"And how are you holding up?" Kakashi asked, a rare seriousness taking over him as he observed his friend.

"You and I have both lost a lot of team members," Itachi scoffed.

"Yeah, but you almost lost her today too. If we had been even a moment slower, she would have died."

"And what's your point?" Itachi asked, turning away from Hinata to look at Kakashi with steady eyes.

"Isn't she like your baby sister or something?"

"We weren't too late and even managed to get her to Haku in time to prevent any serious brain damage so there's no point in dwelling on what could have happened. That's the difference between us and them. They're broken up and falling apart because they're focusing on how much worse it could have been instead of focusing on what they need to do better next time. It's just a matter of perspective. They're looking at all of this from the wrong perspective. If we obsessed about every failed mission and every person we _almost_ lost in addition to those we did lose, we wouldn't be able to be as efficient or as effective as we are now. That's why we're Elite Hunters."

"True, but you know it's okay to have emotions and be human sometimes," Kakashi said, standing up and clapping his hand on Itachi's shoulder once before leaving Itachi alone with Hinata.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for not posting in such a LOOOOONG time. Thank you to everyone who kept checking back. Thank you to everyone who left reviews. Honestly, reading the reviews really encourages me so I'm always super grateful for them.**

 **I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter, though it is much shorter than the others and doesn't really have any action.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this story has no beta. There are probably a few spelling & grammatical errors. **

**Read and review, please.**

* * *

Chapter 8

Naruto stared up at the ceiling. Sleep was evading him despite how completely exhausted he was. He knew that if he was going to be any good to the team at all he needed to get some rest, but every time he closed his eyes, all he could see were images of Itsuki dying and Hinata's bloodied form.

He sighed and rolled to his side for the twentieth time before shifting and rolling to his other side again.

"Quit it," Sasuke growled.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" Naruto mumbled. "I'm having a hard time falling asleep."

"Obviously," Sasuke said in a dry tone. "You think any of us are actually asleep? You really think Haku and I would be able to sleep with Hinata in that condition, after that disaster? Do you think we could sleep in the same room as that walking curse?" Sasuke sat up and glared daggers at Sakura who was still unconscious on the sofa. His voice was laced with venom and Naruto could see how much Sasuke detested Sakura.

"It's not her fault. It's our fault we weren't prepared," Naruto replied, sitting up as well.

"Yeah, we weren't prepared, but we would have all been able to get out of there unscathed if you hadn't been thinking with your fucking dick!" Sasuke exploded at Naruto.

"What? Are you being serious right now?"

"Yeah!" Sasuke got to his feet. "I don't know what you see in her, but honestly all of your decisions regarding her have been idiotic at best."

"Are you finished?" Naruto got up to his feet as well, glaring at Sasuke.

"If any other civilian had turned up unannounced, you know we would have bailed on the mission until the civilians were gone. You only allowed her to stay because you didn't want her to be upset at you. You were worried that it would hurt your chances at being with her. Look, I know you're not like me. I know that you've never felt like that with a girl before, but you have to know that you were wrong," Sasuke argued back.

"So you think it would have been better if we had made her wait in the car or one of us took her back to the base?"

"Yes! At least we'd all still be alive!" Sasuke shouted back.

"And you think the four of you would have been enough to complete the mission?"

"WE COULD HAVE WAITED! And none of us would have been stupid enough to make so much fucking noise on a covert mission."

"It's our fault we weren't clearer with her."

"How could we be clearer? We told her that she was to stay at the base until we said otherwise."

"SHE DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Naruto finally began shouting back.

"You know the only reason she wants to stay here is because she wants me, right?" Sasuke snarled. "She wasn't actually afraid. If she was scared, she would not have been able to wait at the school for hours alone without anyone else, not after what happened at her home. She was playing you because you made it so obvious that you were into her. She had you in the palm of her hand and the rest of us thought you were smarter than that."

Naruto had had enough and dove at Sasuke. Haku had decided to get out of the way early on, predicting what would happen, while Itachi and Kakashi had been watching and listening from the office. Naruto and Sasuke were rolling around in the ring, not really using their training, just outright brawling like a pair of alpha dogs in a bar fight.

"STOP IT!"

Naruto and Sasuke glowered at each other before shoving each other away at Sakura's interruption.

"Are you okay?" Naruto made his way towards Sakura while Sasuke huffed in annoyance before leaving the two alone, heading to Hinata.

"Don't," Sakura took a step away from Naruto. "Don't be so kind to me. I don't deserve it," Sakura's voice cracked as she tried to keep her tears from falling. "This is my fault. I should have listened to you guys, but I was so stupid! I can't even blame it on ignorance. You all told me. You warned me time and time again. I was just so jealous of Hinata getting all of Sasuke's attention and affection that I thought if I was in danger or injured a little, that I'd get that attention. I wanted all the attention because that's what I'm used to. So, I decided that I would risk everyone's safety for a chance to get what I wanted. Now, because of my jealousy, my selfishness, my stupidity- because of _**me**_ Itsuki is dead. I'm so sorry," she dropped to her knees and began sobbing hysterically.

Naruto knelt down and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"DON'T!" she screamed, flinging his hand off her shoulder as she backed away. "Please don't be kind. If you keep treating me with kindness, I'll go crazy from the guilt," she whispered before she stood up and ran into the women's locker room for privacy.

"Sakura!" Naruto stood up and called after her, but he couldn't bring his feet to follow her and instead stared at the door she had escaped behind.

He stood like a statue, unable to move, unable to even process thought until he felt a hand gently squeeze his shoulder.

"She just needs time," Itachi assured.

"Sasuke's right," Naruto said quietly, unable to meet Itachi's eyes. "I let all this happen because I wanted Sakura to like me more. I thought that if I let her get her way, she would appreciate me and what I was doing for her. I was a dumb hormonal teenager."

"I'm not going to say that it's all okay as long as you learned your lesson. We both know that things won't be okay for any of you guys for a while, but I will say this," Itachi stepped in front of Naruto and made sure Naruto was looking him in the eye before he continued. "You can't linger on what went wrong. You learn from your mistake and focus on the people who are still here and what you can do **now**. Nothing is going to change what happened. You can't bring Itsuki back to life and you can't change what Hina Hime went through. What you **can** do is regain focus, train harder, be wiser, and assist everyone else in the team so that they can stand tall again. That's the burden of being the leader. It might not seem like it now, but your team is looking at you and they will follow your lead. The faster you accept what's happened and move on, the sooner everyone else will as well. Don't let what happened defeat you. Prove you're stronger than this by improving."

"How am I supposed to help everyone else when they're all pissed at me?" Naruto asked.

"You admit that you were wrong and ask them to forgive you."

"What if they don't forgive me?" Naruto asked, his eyes filling with doubt.

"You must think very little of your relationship with everyone if you're doubting that they will forgive you," Itachi sighed and tousled Naruto's hair.

"But you saw how angry Sasuke is."

"There are two reasons Sasuke is angry. First, he's angry because he was unable to protect Hina Hime and so he's releasing all the frustration on you. Two, because he thinks that you cared more about how Sakura felt about you than the team's success and safety."

"Well what can I do to convince him otherwise?" Naruto asked.

"I can't give you all the answers, baby brother. You need to figure some things out for yourself," Itachi gave a somber grin as he poked the center of Naruto's forehead with two fingers.

"Thanks, Itachi," Naruto sighed and rubbed his forehead before turning to look at the door Sakura had retreated behind again. Honestly, Naruto had no idea how he would fix things between everyone, but he knew that Itachi was right. He couldn't afford to fall apart and really let his team down. He'd already done that once and he had no intention of doing it again. Still, he knew it would take time before Sasuke or Haku would be willing to speak to him normally again, and so he began to train.

" _Never again,_ " he thought as he began to warm up with a jump rope, " _never again._ "

* * *

"… Her… mended… really weak…"

"Hime… walk… tr… unlikely… leave…"

"She should… will take time…"

"Hinata's strong. She'll be fine."

It took Hinata a while to be able to make sense of the voices around her. She had been fading in and out of consciousness and was now able to stay awake long enough to fully understand the sentences that were being spoken. She tried to open her eyes and frowned when she couldn't put enough strength into even that action.

"Ku," she tried to speak, but all that came out was a hoarse croak.

"Hinata?"

"Get her some water!"

She immediately felt a large, calloused hand grab her right hand while another softer hand gently caressed the side of her cheek before touching her lips, coaxing her mouth open, placing a straw between her lips to give her some water.

"Haku," she tried again after her thirst was quenched, "is Sakura alright?" Her voice was still rough and barely louder than a whisper.

Silence surrounded her for too long and she began wondering if they had heard her at all.

"She is physically fine, but she is having a difficult time emotionally," Haku finally answered. "You should be more concerned with your own condition though."

"I have you looking after me, so I'm not worried about anything," she said, trying to smile and splitting her dry lip instead.

"Tsk," she heard as someone took a damp cloth to dab at her lip.

"I hope you weren't too hard on her, Sasuke," she said, squeezing the hand in hers, recognizing his calloused fingers and firm yet gentle grasp easily.

"Hn," he grunted, and began to rub soothing circles on the back of her her hand with his thumb.

"Thank you for saving my life, Itachi," she said softly.

"How'd you know I was here?" she felt him place a warm hand over her forehead.

"I could smell you when you wiped my lip," she answered.

"And what do I smell like?" Itachi asked, as he moved her bangs off her forehead. She could hear the smile on his lips along with the amusement in his voice.

"Like," she trailed off as she tried to think of words to describe his scent that evoked feelings of safety and of being adored, yet in the end all she could come up with was, "Itachi," her giggle morphed into a harsh cough and she winced at the pain that shot through her throat and body.

"How are you feeling, Hinata?" Haku asked.

"I feel like I'm buried under three feet of cement. My body's stiff and sore and it's taking me longer than usual to process things. I feel like I want to hurry up and start training to build up my strength again."

"That's my Hina Hime," she could hear the pride emanating from Itachi's voice.

"It'll take a little while before you can get back to your regular training regiment. Promise me you'll take it slow," Haku warned.

"Yes, doctor," Hinata replied jokingly. "Haku, is there any permanent damage?" she asked cautiously.

"I don't know yet. We'll have to wait and see. You should get some more rest though. If you want to regain your strength, you'll need to rest as well as train so for now, rest."

"Okay, but will you let Naruto know I'm awake now? I'm assuming he isn't here right now," she said a bit chagrined. She had not heard his voice, felt his touch, or smelled him at all so she figured he wasn't in the room.

"Of course, Hime," Itachi replied before placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks for being here when I woke up, guys," Hinata said as her other two friends remained at her side while Itachi went to fetch Naruto.

"Where else would we be?" Haku asked gently.

"I'm sorry for worrying you guys," she said in a small voice, choking back the lump that had formed.

"You better be," Sasuke grunted and she couldn't help smiling.

"Haku, are there bandages over my eyes?" she asked when she finally opened her eyes, only to be met with darkness. "Can we take them off?"

"Sure, but don't open your eyes too quickly. Your eyes are going to feel really sensitive. Sasuke, see if anyone has a pair of sunglasses or something."

She heard Sasuke rush out without a word.

"How long have I been out for?"

"Not long," Haku replied, not really answering her question.

"How long?" Hinata asked more firmly.

"You've been out for six days," he sighed.

She was silent for a while as she processed his answer. "Did you get enough rest? Please don't tell me you spent all your time here. Have you been eating properly?" she asked, her brow creased in concern.

"You don't have to worry about me," Haku caressed her cheek with his thumb. "We took turns eating and sleeping so that you wouldn't have to be worried about us when you woke up."

"Good," she said with a sigh of relief.

"I have sunglasses," Sasuke said as he entered the room.

"Are we taking Hina Hime's bandages off?" Itachi asked following after Sasuke.

"Yeah, Hinata wants them off and I think it should be alright," Haku nodded.

"Itachi, is Naruto with you?" Hinata asked and was met with a heavy awkward silence. "Oh, he must be preoccupied," she forced a smile hoping that they didn't see the corners of her mouth falter slightly.

"Help her sit up," Haku ordered and immediately Hinata felt strong, firm hands grab her shoulder and pull her up slightly until the owner of said hands were able to get an arm under her and slowly lift her up into a sitting position.

"You smell like spearmint and pouring rain in a thunderstorm," Hinata said as her head fell into the crook of her helper's neck. "I never noticed that you smelled so good before, Sasuke," she continued. She became slightly confused when he seemed to heat up suddenly.

"Why are you blushing, Sasuke?" Itachi teased.

"Shut up," Sasuke growled.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this story has no beta. There are probably a few spelling & grammatical errors. **

**Read and review, please.**

 **Your reviews really do give me motivation. I am always so humbled and encouraged by your reviews. Hopefully this chapter isn't too slow.**

* * *

Chapter 9

Four days.

It had been four days since Hinata had woken up from her coma and she had still not seen Naruto. She knew that the others had told him that she was awake, and she had even sent him text messages, knowing that it was a bit ridiculous to send a text message to someone who was just a few rooms away. Probably. Still, he had not responded and Hinata was beginning to get more and more depressed. She put on a bright smile for the others. She didn't want to cause any more friction between her friends.

She sighed and looked at her phone. It had been almost nine hours since her last message. " _It should be safe to send another one. Right?_ " she contemplated before typing and sending another message to Naruto.

 _Ding._

Hinata held her breath when she heard a phone notification sound from right outside the door of the medical room. She shifted in the bed to look at the door, waiting for it to open and Naruto to enter. She strained her ears, trying to hear any other sound. When the next thing she heard was the sound of footsteps shuffling away from the door, her eyes welled up with tears and she choked back a sob.

" _Why is he avoiding me? Is he angry that I failed to protect Sakura properly? Did I do something wrong? Does he want nothing to do with me now?_ " She had been so used to him always being her shoulder to lean and depend on that his absence started to plant a seed of hurt and doubt in the depth of their relationship that had festered and had grown into one of abandonment and loneliness. She felt like her heart was slowly being shredded, each day a little more than the last. She was finding herself examining their past interactions, looking for anything she might have done wrong. She was questioning herself and the security she once had that even if Naruto didn't have romantic feelings for her like she did for him, that he had still loved her as a friend or sister.

"Hime?"

Hinata had been so broken-hearted that she hadn't heard the door open. She quickly threw her forearm over her eyes to try and hide that she had been crying. "Hey, Itachi. Is it time for my rehab?" Her voice sounded bright and cheery, but Itachi's failure to answer her right away was a dead giveaway that he knew she was crying.

She heard the door close and felt Itachi sit on the edge of her bed. She didn't even try to struggle when he gently removed her arm from her face and peered down at her with a gentle expression that he only showed to those closest to him.

"Tell me what's wrong." Itachi had a way of speaking that made it impossible for Hinata to disobey him and so she sat up and looked down at her fidgeting hands.

"You're going to think it's so juvenile and stupid," she said softly. "You'll be so disappointed in me."

"When have I ever been disappointed in you?" he asked as he wiped her tears with his thumbs. "Tell me what has you in tears."

She hesitated before answering in a voice barely louder than a whisper that still couldn't quite hide the slight tremor caused by her desire to cry, "Naruto hasn't come to check up on me yet."

"Ah, I see," Itachi nodded in understanding and watched as more tears began to run down her reddened cheeks.

"I know that I'm probably just being selfish. I'm sure he took our last mission really hard and he needs time to gather his thoughts and deal with it, but I just thought that he would come to see me at least once. Do you think he's mad at me? Or maybe he just doesn't care about me anymore now that Sakura's around."

"My brother's an idiot. I'm sure that the reason he hasn't come to see you has nothing to do with how he feels about Sakura. He is not angry with you either. He cares about you so much. He might not have come in to check on you, but he asks about your recovery all the time. He does care about you. Just give him some more time."

"But, I haven't seen him even when I leave this room. He has to be actively avoiding me. And I haven't seen Sakura once either. It might not be true, but I can't help thinking that he's avoiding me to spend more time with her. I mean, she's prettier, more feminine, and fragile than me. Of course he'd want to be around her."

"No."

Itachi's tone was so hard that she finally looked up at his face, slightly surprised by his edged mono-syllabic response to her. "No?" her eyebrows were drawn together as another tear escaped her eyes.

"No, I can say that he is not avoiding you to be closer to Sakura. And you need to stop comparing yourself to her. You'll just tear down your self-esteem."

She flinched at his words thinking that he was agreeing with her that Sakura was much more attractive than she was and looked down again.

She heard him sigh before he gently placed his index finger under her chin and tilted her face up to look up at him again. "For the record, I completely disagree with you. What I meant was that when you start to compare yourself with other people, you're not giving yourself a fair chance. You're going to compare the things you dislike most about yourself with a person who has that trait in spades. You're not going to see your best qualities. I know you and you'll end up just fixating on those small imperfections that cause you to be insecure.

"So, I need you to listen closely to what I'm about to say and remember this whenever you feel down about yourself. Hinata, you are beautiful, kind, strong, smart, compassionate, and talented. You think you're not very feminine? What is femininity? Is it being delicate and needing to be saved? Bullshit. That's not being feminine. That's just being weak. You want to be more attractive? The most attractive thing that anyone could be is confident. Not stuck up or arrogant, but just confident that you are you. Own it. Stop doubting yourself. All those imperfections you see, those are the things that make you human. You're a perfectly flawed human, just like me and Sakura and Naruto. If you can't love and value yourself, you can't expect anyone else to love and value you either."

Hinata took a moment to let everything Itachi said settle in. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Thanks, Itachi. I really missed you. Nobody gives advice quite like you. You're like an old sage in the body of a young man."

Itachi chuckled and returned her hug. "Naruto's an idiot. He's taking the last mission pretty hard, especially after fighting with Sasuke. Just trust that you're important to him. He'll talk to you when he's ready," he squeezed her gently before they parted.

* * *

It only took three more days for Hinata to be completely mobile and ready to train again. She had gone through a week of physio therapy and rehabilitation with Kakashi and Itachi in addition to healing sessions with Haku. Though she was still not in top condition, it was clear that there was no lasting damage or need to worry. Itachi and Kakashi had watched how they all trained, pointing out weaknesses and creating new training regiments for the team, but Hinata knew that Itachi and Kakashi would be leaving soon. They were Elite Hunters and just the fact that they had spent so much time here had been lucky.

"Dinner!" Hinata shouted, though her quiet voice only carried as far as Haku who happened to be passing by the kitchen. "I don't think anyone heard me," Hinata made a face when she saw Haku at the door. "Do you mind gathering everyone?"

Haku just smiled before heading out to let the others know.

As usual, only Haku, Hinata, Itachi, Kakashi, and Sasuke ate together. Hinata knew that Naruto would come around to eat when the kitchen was empty, so she made sure she set aside a plate of food for him. As for Sakura, Hinata was getting legitimately worried about her. Sakura hadn't left the locker room for anything. Hinata had taken her food, but whenever she went to check on her, the food was left untouched and Sakura was looking thinner and sickly.

" _I should force her to eat something,_ " Hinata thought as she stared at the food before her.

"We'll be heading out tomorrow at dawn," Itachi announced, cutting into Hinata's thoughts.

It was clear to Hinata that both Sasuke and Haku had been expecting this announcement as much as she had been, and so they just nodded their head as they continued to eat.

"Hopefully it doesn't take four years before we see you again," Hinata smiled, referring to the amount of time that had passed since Itachi had first left home and now.

"I'll do my best to keep in touch," he replied.

"I'll miss you," her smile was still on her face, but her voice leaked sadness. "You as well, Kakashi. It was really nice to meet you. Thank you so much for everything. I hope you keep in touch as well."

"It was great meeting and getting to know you all as well. I'll really miss Hinata's amazing cooking for sure," Kakashi smiled, looking at each of them fondly.

"You must have received new deployment orders," Sasuke frowned slightly in thought.

Hinata shifted her gaze to Sasuke. Elite Hunters weren't allowed to share any details of any of their missions and all Hunters, regardless of rank, knew that, so Hinata wondered why Sasuke would bring it up. "Be careful."

She couldn't help smiling at Sasuke's timid encouragement. Typically, Elite Hunters could choose their own missions pretty freely, however if the Elders were deploying any number of Elites, it usually meant that the mission was extremely dangerous.

Though she knew that Sasuke had complete faith in his brother's skills and abilities, Itachi wasn't invincible, and especially with what happened with their team, Hinata could tell that Sasuke was far more aware of the risks and mortality that accompanied their line of work.

She reached over to Sasuke who sat on her right and put her hand over his which had been resting on his thigh. She gave him an encouraging smile and gentle squeeze. He didn't look at her or acknowledge her in any way, his eyes still peering at his brother. When she figured that she had held his hand long enough for him to understand her heart and intentions, she began to withdraw her hand. She froze when Sasuke quickly turned his hand over, lacing his fingers with hers, still not looking at her as he went back to eating, acting like he wasn't holding her hand in a tight grip.

Hinata looked down at their joined hands in quiet contemplation. " _Sasuke must be more worried about Itachi than I realized,_ " she decided, looking up at Sasuke's profile. " _His ears are red. He must still not be completely comfortable with being vulnerable with us_." She decided to let him hold her hand glad that she had prepared a meal that didn't require the use of her dominant hand.

* * *

" _Why is Hinata eating with her left hand?_ " Haku thought as he watched Hinata struggle slightly with her meal. He frowned slightly when he looked closer. She was sitting almost directly in between him and Sasuke, but she was leaning slightly towards Sasuke with her right arm angled away from her body. Shifting his gaze, he saw Sasuke's flushed ears and dropped his fork on the ground so that he could confirm the suspicion that was crawling up his spine.

It was as if time had slowed and he was watching everything in slow motion as he watched every nuanced movement. He watched as Hinata looked down to see that his fork was closer to her. She leaned down, away from Sasuke to try and pick up the fork and Haku witnessed the unmistakeable tug on her arm when Sasuke refused to let go of her hand to let her reach the fork.

"It's okay, Hinata. I'm done anyways," Haku said, though his own voice sounded far away and defeated.

"Are you feeling sick?" she asked, looking up at him with concerned eyes as he stood up. "You have so much food left."

"I'm fine," he forced a smile and crouched to pick up his fork though his eyes were fixed on Hinata's small hand still in Sasuke's firm grip. His smile had vanished and his typically smiling lips were set in a straight line as he glared at the two hands that seemed to be taunting him.

He took a deep breath and clenched his fists as he steeled his nerves and stood up. Turning to face Hinata completely, he felt his expression melt into one of complete sincerity.

"Haku?" Hinata looked up at him curiously.

"Hinata, I know you're not finished eating, but I really need to talk to you. Do you mind coming with me for a bit?"

"Sure," Hinata nodded and stood up. Haku didn't fail to see Sasuke's reluctance in releasing her hand.

"Let's go somewhere private," Haku gently took Hinata's hand in his, shooting Sasuke a glance before leading her out.

Haku wanted to make sure that they had complete privacy from everyone else and led her outside and around the corner of the building. When he felt like they had enough privacy, he stopped and gently placed his hands on her shoulders before placing her in front of him so that her back was to the wall and they were completely face-to-face. He stood, unable to look up at her while he gathered his courage.

He knew that she was confused, which made him more grateful that she remained silent and didn't ask him what was on his mind. He knew that she knew him well enough to give him time to work through his thoughts at his own pace.

"Hinata," he finally spoke and looked up into her beautiful eyes. The rest of what he wanted to say was caught in his throat as he stared at her with his mouth slightly ajar at the sight of her.

The sun was still setting with the last remnants of the sunlight casting a reddish glow over everything it touched. Presently, the light was shining on Hinata in a way that reminded Haku of the majesty of the phoenix. Even her pale eyes were engulfed in the light and he could almost see fire dancing in her irises.

" _Fuck it_ ," he thought, pushing her against the wall before he closed the gap between their lips.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: I promise that the next chapter will have a healthy dose of excitement. This chapter is slower than I'd like, but it's necessary for all the things that will go down in the future.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm so, so, so, so, SOOOOOOOOO sorry for the long wait between updates. A lot of stuff has happened and kept me super busy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this story has no beta. There are probably a few spelling & grammatical errors. **

**Read and review, please. Reviews legitimately give me motivation to continue this story, as petty as that may sound. I really do want to complete this story, but it is a lot easier when it seems like people are actually reading it lol.**

 **AN: Just to clarify, this begins slightly before the end of last chapter but from Hinata's POV.**

* * *

Chapter 10

Hinata patiently waited while Haku gathered his thoughts. She could tell that what he wanted to say was extremely important to him, so she remained silent, staring at the top of his head that was angled towards her while he stared down at his feet. She wondered what could possibly be so important and so private that he couldn't speak freely in front of the others.

"Hinata," he finally spoke, tilting his head up with his body still positioned with his left foot forward and his torso bent at the hip so that he could look directly in her face and accommodate their difference in height.

She had always thought that Haku was beautiful. His long hair and soft features often caused confusion among strangers about whether he was a girl or boy when they were younger. As they grew up, his features had matured and become slightly more angular, though he could still pass for a beautiful girl. But right now, as the sunset cast its last rays over the horizon, it caused shadows at sharp angles to form over his face and Hinata was suddenly acutely aware that her soft, gentle Haku was no longer that beautiful, quiet, shadow that had always been a comfortable childhood friend. He had suddenly become an adult― a handsome man who was currently staring at her as if she was the only thing in the universe that mattered to him right now.

The way he looked at her was the way she so desperately wanted Naruto to look at her. It was an expression that she imagined grooms would look at their brides the moment they first see them in their wedding dresses walking down the aisle. It was a look that was so saturated with love that there was no way that Hinata, as dense as she usually was, could mistake it for anything else. It was a look that told her that Haku felt for her the same way she felt about Naruto. It was a look that everyone would want from the person they love. But she didn't love him in the same way.

Hinata felt pain erupt in her chest as her heart began to break knowing that she had to break his. She didn't want to hurt him, but she knew that it would be cruel of her to not give him a definitive, concrete answer. She knew that she would hurt him more if she dragged on the inevitable, causing him to have a sliver of hope that she would reciprocate his feelings. She knew because she went to bed everyday disappointed and hurt because of her feelings for Naruto. And she knew that it wasn't Naruto's fault. She had never been upfront with her feelings for him so she couldn't expect him to give her an answer if he didn't know that she was in love with him. But she didn't want Haku to go through the same thing that she was going through. It would be better for him to hurt all at once, instead of hurting every single day for who knew how long just because she didn't want to hurt his feelings now. She knew what she had to do. So, she opened her mouth to speak, but instead of her voice coming out, she felt her body being pushed backwards until her back hit the wall and she felt soft lips against hers.

* * *

Haku knew that he had surprised her and although there was the chance that she would be upset with him, he didn't really care right now as he moved his lips against hers, pinning her to the wall with his body while his hands gently held her face angled up towards his. She had frozen in place and while she wasn't reciprocating his kiss, she wasn't pushing him away right now either. The kiss was rather chaste, as he had never kissed a girl before and didn't really know what he was doing. What he did know, was that her lips were much softer than he had imagined. He wanted to taste her more. He wanted to let his tongue invade her mouth, which he knew was slightly open right now because of her surprise, but he didn't want her to become repulsed by him and so he held back as much as he could.

He didn't even realize that his hands had left her face and were now at her hips, his fingers inching under her shirt, ghosting over her skin, until she snapped out of her shock and pushed him away. His fingertips were tingling and his lips could still feel the pressure of hers against his. If he had been a lesser man, he might have ignored her clear sign of protest and kissed her again, but he loved her too much to do that.

He forced himself to stay where he was with every fibre of self-control he had as he stared at Hinata, standing there so vulnerable and what could almost be mistaken for pity emoting from her eyes. He knew what it really was. It was empathy, sorrow, and non-romantic love for him. This was one of the reasons he loved her so much. She should be furious at him, and yet she wasn't. She loved him so much that it was hurting her to hurt him.

"I'm sorry," he flinched slightly at the sound of his own voice which came out rougher and lower than usual, almost like a growl, and looked down at his feet in apology.

"Haku," she said his name in that soft, melodic way that always forced him to look her way.

Guilt flooded him completely when he saw her eyes glistening with unshed tears and he stepped closer to her, pulling her body into a tight embrace as he whispered his apologies over and over.

"No," she interrupted and stepped away from him just a little so that she was still held in his arms, but she had enough room to look up at him and hold his flushed and burning face in her cool hands. "No, Haku, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but I don't feel the same way about you," the tip of her nose was turning slightly red as her tears escaped her eyes and ran down her smooth, porcelain cheeks. "I don't want to hurt you, but I need to be honest with you."

"I know," he smiled even as his vision blurred slightly with the tears that were welling up in his eyes.

"What?" her hands dropped from his face and rested on his chest as she tilted her head slightly to one side.

He couldn't hold back a chuckle at her confused expression. "I am in love with you, Hinata. I also know that even though you love me, you're not _in_ love with me. That's okay. I don't really expect you to suddenly reciprocate my feelings just because I confessed to you. I just needed you to know how I felt because hiding my feelings for you is just exhausting. It felt like I was lying and living a double life by pretending my feelings were less than they are. I can't change the way you feel, and I can't change the way _I_ feel about you. Trust me, I've tried that and I can't. So, I just want to be honest and lay everything out on the table. I love you and from now on, I'm not going to hide my feelings."

"I'm sorry," she said again as Haku gingerly wiped her tears.

"I didn't tell you so that you could apologize for something you can't control," he sighed and smiled.

"You're too good for me. I don't deserve you," she gave a slightly shaky smile as she fought to keep more tears from joining the ones that had already escaped her eyes.

"Don't ever say that ever again," Haku said, his voice steady and firm. He held her face and made sure that she was focused on him before he continued. "Listen closely, because I'm going to tell you what kind of person you deserve. You deserve someone who will love you more than he loves himself. You deserve someone who _could never_ even _dream_ about cheating on you because his thoughts and fantasies are all saturated with you. You deserve someone who knows that you can protect yourself, and that sometimes you'll need to, but will still want to protect you because the thought of you getting hurt in any way, be that physical, emotional, or mental, would be devastating to him. You deserve someone who wouldn't make you cry, because he knows that there is nothing more beautiful than your smile and seeing you cry would break his heart. You deserve someone who couldn't live without you because you are his everything. You deserve love like that. You may not feel this way about me, but this is just a small portion of how I feel about you, and even if it takes a lifetime, my feelings for you won't change and I'll always be waiting for you because when you love someone the way that I love you, it's forever regardless of whether that person loves you back or not. My feelings for you aren't dependent on your feelings for me."

He hadn't intended on making her cry, but when she suddenly began to sob into his chest at his heartfelt words, he was taken aback. He had just told her that he wouldn't make her cry, but his words had done exactly that.

"Why are you crying?" he asked as he rubbed his hand soothingly over her back.

"I don't know," she mumbled. "My heart is just overflowing with conflicting emotions and the only way to release it is crying. I'm so moved by your feelings for me and I've never felt more loved before, but I feel so sad and sorry that I can't love you the same way."

"I already told you, you don't have to feel sorry for the way you feel. You might not be in love with me right now, but maybe in five, ten, twenty, or fifty years, maybe one day you'll fall for me. Until then, I can wait because you're worth waiting this lifetime and next for. Just promise you won't alienate me because you know how I feel now."

He couldn't help letting out a laugh when she began to cry harder. "Don't be stupid. You'll find someone more amazing than me, and I would never alienate you. How could you even think that I might," she smacked his chest before wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "We should probably get back inside before it gets dark. Do I look disgusting?"

He studied her face carefully. Her eyes were slightly swollen, her nose was still red, and her eyes were still a bit glassy. It would be obvious with anyone with eyes that she had cried. "You look perfect," he smiled as he gently caressed her cheek.

* * *

Sasuke had been washing the dishes when Hinata and Haku returned. He frowned when he saw that Hinata had been crying and shifted his gaze to study Haku, but since he couldn't sense any tension between the two, he decided to ignore it. It was none of his business what they had talked about anyways.

"Sorry, it was my turn to do the dishes wasn't it?" Haku apologized as Sasuke finished rinsing the last plate.

"It's not a big deal. Just do the dishes for me tomorrow," Sasuke shrugged.

"Naruto," Sasuke and Haku both turned their attention to the door when they heard Hinata breathe out his name.

"Good, you guys are all here," Naruto gave an awkward and tensed smile.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked, stepping closer to him, placing a hand on his arm.

Naruto let out an obviously forced laugh, "I should be asking you that."

"You should have asked her a lot sooner, asshole. What the hell's going on with you?" Sasuke asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I know," Naruto looked down, shame clearly written over his face. "Can we sit and talk for a bit?"

They all silently sat around the table waiting for Naruto to break his silence and begin to explain his out of character behaviour for the past week. Sasuke felt his typically stoic face morph into a slight scowl when he saw Hinata reach out to Naruto again, taking his hand to offer some comfort and confidence as she unconsciously rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand. Sasuke forced his eyes away from their joined hands and wiped his displeased expression off his face as he remembered the way her small, cold hand had felt in his just a little while earlier.

"First, I want to apologize to all of you guys," Naruto finally began to speak. "I've spent some time really thinking about my behaviour and you were right, Sasuke. I did let my feelings for Sakura impact my judgement and our entire last mission was completely my fault. I put our entire team in danger and because of my stupid decision," Naruto's voice broke and he took a moment to gain control again, "because of me Itsuki died and we almost lost you, Hinata."

Hinata immediately wrapped her arms around Naruto and pulled his head into the crook of her shoulder so that he could cry into it.

"And then I couldn't accept that it was my fault and became so defensive when Sasuke called me out. I needed time to think about everything, but the more I thought about everything, the more ashamed and guilty I felt. I felt like I didn't have the right to check up on you when I was the reason why you had almost died, and then the longer I stayed away, the less I felt I deserved to be forgiven."

"Hey, idiot," Sasuke called out, causing Naruto to pull away from Hinata and look at him. "We get it. You're sorry."

"I'm trying to apologize properly," Naruto looked at Sasuke incredulously.

"Well it's obvious that Hinata's already forgiven you. She's the one you wronged the most. What right do either of us have to not forgive you if Hinata has?" Haku smiled.

"I still think you're a dipshit and moron, but you're my brother. I'll get over it after I beat you up. You already apologized so shut up and end this pity party. We need to remember why we're even here. We all need to keep our heads in the game if we're going to figure out what's in that book and protect Hinata from her psycho cousin," Sasuke reminded.

"It's not your fault I was hurt," Hinata smiled at Naruto. "I need to get stronger."

"I'm sorry," Naruto hung his head in shame again.

"If you're sorry, then make it up to us by not bringing the mood down," Sasuke grunted.

"Thanks guys," Naruto finally broke a smile.

"I missed you," Hinata said as she hugged him again.

"Yeah, me too."

"Enough of this, I want to beat some sense into you. Let's go train," Sasuke said to Naruto as he stood up.

"Oh good, you've all made up," Itachi's voice cut in. "Took you guys long enough. I wanted to give this to you before I forgot. I'm curious about what's in the book. Let me know once you guys get it open," Itachi said, holding the key that had cost them so much out to Hinata.

"Thank you," Hinata stood up and took the key from him, looking down at the small, delicate, discoloured silver key in the palm of her hand before she placed it in her pocket.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Haku, I'm trusting you guys to keep this one safe. I don't want to hear that she got that close to dying ever again. I won't always show up in time to be the hero so make sure you guys are fully prepared next time."

"Don't worry, we won't make the same mistake again," Naruto nodded.

"Kakashi and I are going to head out now. We wanted to wait until tomorrow, but we need to leave now. Kakashi's drawing a gate right now. I thought we should officially say goodbye before just disappearing."

The group nodded and followed Itachi out of the kitchen to the gym where Kakashi was just finishing up drawing a complex set of symbols, forming a gate to wherever their next mission awaited them.

"Thank you for everything. Please be careful," Hinata said, wrapping her arms around Itachi, letting her worry leak into her voice as her brow furrowed and she rested her head on his chest.

"I'm always careful," he smiled, taking a step back, placing a gentle, feather light kiss on her forehead before he waved with a simple flick of his wrist to the others. "Take care of her," he reminded once more.

"Be safe, Kakashi," Hinata said as she waved goodbye to him.

"You guys too," Kakashi nodded.

As soon as Kakashi drew the final line, a bright light started to emit from the ground and he jumped into it, disappearing into the ground. Itachi took one last look over his shoulder as he smiled at his brothers, jumping in after Kakashi. The gateway stayed open for only another couple seconds before the light and all of the symbols vanished.

"Let's spar," Sasuke said, turning away and heading to the ring with Naruto right behind him.

* * *

"Sakura?"

Sakura flinched at the sound of Hinata's soft voice breaking through the silence that had surrounded her for however long it had been since the last time Hinata had tried to comfort her.

"You need to eat something," Hinata pleaded.

Sakura remained silent as she sat with her knees drawn up, arms crossing over her knees and her head resting on her arms so that her face was hidden.

"Sakura, please," she could hear Hinata sit down beside her. "Please talk to me. I'm worried about you. Let me help you."

"And how exactly can you help me?" Sakura finally looked up, her voice raspy from lack of use and her expression showing exactly how guilty and broken she was. "I'm the reason why Itsuki died! I'm the reason my brother, the last of my family died. I killed him!" she began to sob while Hinata held her.

"I don't understand how you can be here comforting me right now when you almost died because of me too," Sakura said when she finally got her sobbing and breathing under control again. "You must hate me so much and I wouldn't blame you. I deserve it. I deserve to be hated by all of you guys."

"We made mistakes too," Hinata replied as she continued to hold Sakura and pat her back.

"I think I can understand now why Sasuke loves you and why I'll never measure up," she sniffed.

"We're not like that," Hinata shook her head. "But that's not what's important. Itsuki wouldn't want you to be sitting here punishing yourself. He would want you to learn and survive."

"I can't," Sakura shook her head.

"You asked me how exactly I could help, right? I could take away your guilt."

"What? How?"

"It's one of the abilities I've been trained to do as an Empath. If you trust and allow me to, I could lessen your feelings of guilt," Hinata didn't break her eye contact with Sakura.

"No, I don't want to forget how horrible it feels. What if I forget how much this guilt hurt and I do something stupid like that again?"

"It's not like you would forget how much it hurt until now. I'm just taking the guilt you feel _now_ , not the guilt you felt before."

"I should have to carry this guilt for the rest of my life," Sakura shook her head and looked away.

"If you don't want me to take it away completely, at least let me take away just a little, so that you won't starve yourself to death. Just enough for you to take that first step to living again." Hinata cupped Sakura's face in her hands and made her look at her again, "Please, let me do this for Itsuki."

"Okay," Sakura whispered.

"Thank you," Hinata smiled. "Just relax and trust me," Hinata said gently as she pulled Sakura into a gentle hug.

Sakura felt Hinata's cool hand on the back of her neck as she rested her forehead against the crook of Hinata's neck. It didn't take long before Sakura could feel a strange sensation of something flowing out of her from the areas that Hinata's skin was touching her own. It wasn't necessarily a pleasant feeling, but she somehow knew that once it was done, she would feel much better. It was almost like throwing up in the way that when she felt ill, throwing up would make her feel better though the actually process of throwing up was not the best feeling. It was like her heart was vomiting the pain and guilt and she could feel tears escaping her closed eyes.

"Shh, relax," Hinata whispered. "It'll feel better in just a moment."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief when she began to feel acceptance and peace flow into her from Hinata. It was a different sensation, almost like drinking a cold glass of water after crossing a dessert. It felt so refreshing that Sakura didn't even realize that Hinata had stopped the process until a good minute afterwards.

"How do you feel now?" Hinata asked, releasing Sakura and pulling away to study Sakura's face.

"I feel," Sakura took a moment to think, unsure how she felt, "I feel like I can breathe again."

"Great," Hinata smiled, though Sakura could recognize the emotions that she had been feeling reflecting back at her in Hinata's eyes.

"When you said take it away, you didn't mean make it disappear. You meant trading. You traded your contentment for my pain. Thank you," Sakura sobbed again, throwing herself against Hinata and hugging her tightly. "And I'm so sorry I was so horrible to you. I was such a bitch."

"If you want to make it up to me, you can start by eating something," Hinata said, her voice a little weak.

"Yeah, I will. I'm going to take a shower and then I'll come out to eat. I should apologize to everyone else too."

"I'll leave you to get cleaned up then," Hinata said, pulling away and standing up slowly.

* * *

Haku looked over to the door when he saw Hinata exit the locker rooms. As soon as the door closed behind her, she dropped to her knees and clutched her chest, an expression of pain crossing her face.

He ran over without a word and placed a hand on her back as he peered at her face in concern.

"It's nothing," Hinata said, her voice sounding a bit fatigued and her expression wasn't as bright and content as usual. "I'm just a bit tired."

"What happened?"

"I took some of Sakura's guilt and pain. I'll be alright. I'm just tired feeling weighed down and tired from taking in extra negative emotions."

"You should have told me you were planning on doing that. I could have been there with you so that you wouldn't have to carry the extra load yourself. You could have split it between the two of us," Haku frowned.

"It's fine. I'm fine. I'm just feeling a bit weak because my body hasn't fully recovered yet," Hinata protested as he wrapped an arm around her back while hooking his other hand under her knees, picking her up so that she could rest her head on his shoulder while he carried her to the sofa.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke and Naruto stopped their spar and turned their attention when they caught sight of Haku carrying Hinata.

"It's nothing," Hinata smiled. "I'm just a bit tired and Haku is just being overprotective."

"Haku, what's wrong with Hinata?" Sasuke asked, his expression unconvinced with Hinata's answer to Naruto's question.

"She's tired from an adverse emotional transfusion," Haku answered.

"I've only heard about emotional transfusions. I didn't know you could do them. Does it always tire you out?" Naruto frowned slightly.

"No, if it's an equal or positive emotional transfusion then she would be fine, but it's because she took in extra bad emotions that it's physically tiring her. Basically, it depends on what feelings she takes in and puts out. If it's even, then there's no physically after effect. If she takes in more positive emotion than she puts out, than she would be energized," Haku shook his head.

"You did a transfusion with Sakura," Sasuke glowered.

"She was starving herself and the guilt would have led her to waste away to death. I insisted that I do it," Hinata replied before closing her eyes.

"Don't cause her more stress than is necessary," Haku warned Sasuke. "She's tired enough as it is without you weighing her down with your feelings."

"I'm fine," Hinata shook her head, but her eyes remained closed and her voice quiet.

"Take her to get some sleep," Naruto nodded his head.

"Sasuke," Hinata called out as Haku carried her towards the infirmary, "she's learned her lesson. I may have taken on some of her guilt, but she still has so much. Please don't make her feel worse. She's learned her lesson so forgive her, please. Forgive her for Itsuki. If you can't do it for him, do it for me," Hinata said before she passed out from exhaustion.

Haku saw Sasuke scowl before he muttered, "That's unfair. You know I can't deny you anything."

"Do you love her?" Haku stopped beside the boxing ring, looking up at Sasuke. He wasn't an idiot, rather, he was probably the most observant of the four. Honestly, he already knew how Hinata felt about Naruto and how Sasuke felt about Hinata. He was just hoping against all odds that Sasuke had not yet realized his feelings.

"Of course he loves her. We all do," Naruto answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Haku studied Sasuke's expression searching for an answer to the actual question he asked. Haku felt a small shred of shame when he saw confusion etch itself onto Sasuke's features confirming his sliver of suspicion that Sasuke was unaware of who had his heart.

"I'm in love with her." Haku's expression mirrored Naruto's and Sasuke's shock. He had not intended on revealing his feelings to them, but the primitive and possessive part of his brain had acted first. He had vomited the words before the thought to had even fully formed in his mind.

"What?" Sasuke's voice cut him out of his internal panic.

"Let me put her in bed first," Haku said slowly.

Naruto nodded his head dumbly, "Yeah, sure."

" _It's okay. You'd already decided to be more upfront with your feelings so they would have figured it out anyways. At least this way you're not leaving any room for misunderstanding,_ " Haku told himself as he laid Hinata in bed, tucking her in before returning to the others.

"So, should we sit down?" Naruto gave an awkward grin.

"No, it's fine. I won't take much of your time." Haku cleared his throat, pausing to organize his thoughts before he looked up, his eyes locking with Sasuke's "I've been in love with Hinata since we were children. I spent most of my life trying to hide my feelings because I didn't think I deserved someone like her, and I didn't want her to feel awkward around me or burdened because of my feelings. You guys probably thought I treated her different from all the other girls because I felt about her the same way you guys feel about her, but I've never once thought of Hinata as a sister. She has always been the reason I live. Every morning when I wake up, she's the first thing I think of. Whenever I train, it's because I want to protect her. She's the last thing on my mind before I fall asleep. There isn't a single thing I do that isn't for her. I could never feel for someone else the way I feel about Hinata. She's my sun, my moon, my oxygen, my water, my happiness, my sorrow, she's my everything. I just thought that I should be honest with you guys."

"Wow," Naruto's expression went from dumbstruck to ecstatic. "That's amazing! You have my blessing!"

"Does she know?" Sasuke asked. Unlike his brother, his expression wasn't bright and congratulatory. In fact, Haku could see the veins in Sasuke's arms and neck bulging as he unconsciously clenched his fists and jaw.

"Yes."

"And?"

Haku gave a defeated smile, "She doesn't feel the same way."

"Oh," Naruto's smile faded. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I already knew she didn't feel the same way when I told her. I just didn't want to hide it any longer," Haku gave Naruto a sad smile. "I just hope that the person she loves would love her back. Honestly, all I want is for her to be happy, even if it's not with me. Her happiness is more important than mine."

"That's stupid," Sasuke scowled. "If I was in love with someone, I would go to the ends of the earth to be with her because nobody could make her as happy as I could."

"Don't get me wrong," Haku turned his gaze back to Sasuke, "I don't intend on giving up. I will do everything in my power to show her that I could make her happy, but if she should choose someone else, I won't be the reason she can't be happy."

"Well, I'm on your side," Haku could hear the smile and encouragement in Naruto's voice, but his eyes lingered on Sasuke's conflicted face.

* * *

 **AN: I'm not 100% satisfied with this chapter so I might end up re-writing it in the future. I know I promised at the end of the last chapter that this one would have some action, but I had to split it up because this chapter was getting too long. Sorry! Please forgive me! Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner than later. I'll try to update more regularly.**


End file.
